DEFENCE

Civil Service (Disabled People)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the number of employees in his department who have a disability, broken down by disability type.

Ivor Caplin: The number of employees within the department as at 1 October 2003 who have a disability by disability type is:
	
		
			 Description Number 
		
		
			 Hearing impairment 1,040 
			 Visual impairment 310 
			 Speech impairment 60 
			 Mobility impairment 810 
			 Physical coordination difficulties 140 
			 Reduced physical capacity 1,010 
			 Severe disfigurement 90 
			 Learning difficulties 140 
			 Mental illness 110 
			 Multiple impairment 20 
			 Unknown disability 20 
			 Disability total 3,700 
			 Not disabled 49,150 
			 Status unknown 35,200 
			 Overall total 88,100 
		
	
	Notes:1. Permanent staff excluding Royal Fleet Auxiliaries and those not currently paid by the department (e.g. maternity leave, secondment).
	2. Values are rounded separately and may not add to totals.

Iraq

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date in October 2002 the military decision was taken to supply all troops in Iraq with enhanced body armour.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 27 January 2004
	In line with normal practice, an Urgent Statement of User Requirement, generated by Land Command on 21 October, was endorsed by the Permanent Joint Headquarters on 5 November 2002. This recommended that all ground forces deploying on Operation Telic should be equipped with Enhanced Combat Body Armour.

Iraq

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether permission was obtained from the Prime Minister's office before the orders for extra sets of enhanced body armour were placed;
	(2)  which Ministers gave approval for the placing of orders for extra sets of enhanced body armour within (a) his Department and (b) other departments;
	(3)  for what reason political approval for the placing of orders for extra sets of enhanced body armour was not given until 25 November 2002;
	(4)  what (a) instruction and (b) guidance was given by (i) the Prime Minister's office and (ii) other Ministers that orders for equipment required for possible military action should not be placed while diplomatic efforts for a solution in Iraq were still underway.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 27 January 2004
	The overall process to be followed for meeting the urgent equipment and stock requirements for Operation Telic was approved by Defence Ministers. The basis on which preparatory work was undertaken took appropriate account of the continuing diplomatic process. As the Ministry of Defence's publication "Operations in Iraq—Lessons For the Future" states, operational security and the requirement not to prejudice the UN process limited early planning and engagement with industry until the Urgent Operational Requirement process was announced on 25 November 2002. Neither the approval of Defence Ministers, nor the approval of the Prime Minister or of other Ministers outside the MOD, was required or given for the placement of individual orders, including for Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA).

Ministry of Defence Police

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) manpower strength and (b) manpower strength requirement is of the Ministry of Defence Police.

Ivor Caplin: As at 1 December 2003, the total authorised complement of Ministry of Defence Police officers was 3,433 and the strength, 3,290.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether contracts which involve the supply and consumption of timber include the Defence Contract Condition (DEFCON) 691.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 30 January 2004
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 January 2004, Official Report, columns 1250–51W. The Ministry of Defence does not keep central records of the number of contracts, which contain DEFCON 691.

Unfair Dismissal Procedures

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures exist for soldiers who consider themselves to have been unfairly dismissed from the Army but failed to submit a redress within three months of discharge to appeal against their dismissal; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The three-month time limit within which a complaint must be submitted begins from the day on which the soldier is formally notified that they are to be dismissed or discharged. Complaints submitted outside this period will normally be rejected as 'out of time' unless the officer to whom the complaint is first presented judges that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to have been submitted earlier.

SCOTLAND

Skye Bridge

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the proposed construction and finance costs were of the two alternative bids to construct the Skye Bridge brought forward in 1990 by the construction firms Morrison and Trafalgar House.

Anne McGuire: Following devolution, responsibility and documentation relating to the construction and financing of the Skye Bridge are now a matter for the Scottish Executive. The right hon. Member may wish to write to Nicol Stephen, the Scottish Minister with responsibility for this matter.
	The Scotland Office has no continuing responsibility and does not hold information about the Skye Bridge.

Whisky Industry

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met representatives of the Scottish whisky industry; and what plans he has to do so in the future.

Anne McGuire: My right hon. Friend will shortly be meeting representatives from Diageo and the Scotch Whisky Association to discuss issues affecting the whisky industry in Scotland.

PRIME MINISTER

Child Access

Graham Brady: To ask the Prime Minister what conclusions he has reached following his investigations into the treatment of child access by the courts announced by him on LBC Radio on 14 January.

Tony Blair: The Government believes that children benefit from a continuing relationship with both parents following parental separation, where it is in the best interests of the child. The Children Act 1989 requires the court to make the welfare of the child concerned its paramount consideration when considering cases where parents are unable to agree on access arrangements for their children.
	Courts can enforce contact for non-resident parents with deliberate refusal by resident parents leading to fines of up to £2,500 or imprisonment of up to 2 years. However, such penalties may not be appropriate due to the effect this may have on the child at the centre of the dispute.
	The Government published its initial response into "Making Contact Work", a report by the Children Act Sub-Committee (CASC), on the issue of facilitation and enforcement of contact orders in August 2002.
	In light of this report, we established a stakeholder group comprising representatives from the judiciary, legal professionals, Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, other government departments and the voluntary sector to examine the issue of facilitation and enforcement. The Government's full response to the CASC report, which will be published shortly, will address the issue of effective enforcement of court-ordered contact.

Dalai Lama

David Lidington: To ask the Prime Minister whether he intends to meet the Dalai Lama during his forthcoming visit to the United Kingdom.

Tony Blair: I regret that because of diary commitments I will be unable to meet the Dalai Lama during his forthcoming visit to the UK.

Gibraltar

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Prime Minister if he plans to visit Gibraltar in the Tercentenary; if he plans to attend St. Clement Daines tercentenary service; and if he will make a statement on Gibraltar and its tercentenary.

Tony Blair: Ministerial visits to Gibraltar in 2004 and attendance at the St. Clement Daines Tercentenary Service are currently under consideration and details have not been finalised.
	The Government intends to play a full part in celebrating the Tercentenary. I refer the hon. Member to the statement given by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Hoon), during the debate on the Gracious Speech on 27 November 2003, Official Report, columns 224–25.

Hutton Inquiry/Report

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish his witness statement to the Hutton Inquiry.

Tony Blair: Lord Hutton set out the process for his Inquiry with which we agreed.

Hutton Inquiry/Report

David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister who in his Office saw the embargoed version of Lord Hutton's report.

Tony Blair: Lord Hutton set out the process for those to receive embargoed copies of his report. The number of advance copies and the associated undertakings of confidentiality were agreed between each of the parties and Lord Hutton. We have nothing further to add.

Iraq

Ben Chapman: To ask the Prime Minister when he will respond to the Intelligence and Security Committee's Report on "Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction—Intelligence and Assessments, of September 2003".

Tony Blair: I am today laying before the House the Government's Response to the Intelligence and Security Committee's September 2003 Report "Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction Intelligence and Assessments".

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister who the members of the (a) Museums and Galleries Commission, (b) National Heritage Memorial Fund, (c) Security Vetting Appeals Panel and (d) Committee on Standards in Public Life were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Tony Blair: The Museums and Galleries Commission has been replaced by Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. The members and their term of office are as follows:
	Mr. Mark Wood BA MA (Chair)
	Appointed June 2003 for a four-year term
	Mr. David Barrie
	Appointed July 2000 for a four-year term
	Ms Lynne Brindley BA MA FRSA
	Appointed January 2003 for a four-year term
	Mr. Ajay Chowdhury
	Reappointed April 2003 for a four-year term
	Dr. Maurna Crozier
	Reappointed April 2003 for a one-year term
	Mr. Loyd Grossman
	Reappointed January 2004 for a four-year term
	Mr. Mark Jones
	Reappointed April 2003 for a four-year term
	Mr. Neil MacGregor
	Reappointed April 2003 for a four-year term
	Mr. Bill Macnaught
	Appointed February 2003 for a four-year term
	Dr. Robert McKee
	Appointed January 2003 for a four-year term
	Ms Jane Ryder
	Reappointed June 2003 for a three-year term
	Mr. Michael Stevenson
	Reappointed on April 2003 for a four-year term
	Mr. Alan Watkin
	Reappointed June 2003 for a four-year term
	Mr David Henshaw, Sir Geoffrey Holland, Mr. Nicholas Kingsley and Ms Virginia Tandy all appointed January 2003 for four-year terms.
	The Chair is paid £32,000 per annum. Other board members do not receive remuneration although they are reimbursed for actual expenses incurred.
	The members of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and their term of office are as follows:
	Ms Liz Forgan OBE (Chair)
	Appointed April 2001 for a three-year term
	Ms Madhu Anjali
	Appointed July 2002 for a three-year term
	Professor Chris Baines
	Reappointed July 2001 for a three-year term
	The Earl of Dalkeith
	Reappointed June 2003 for a three-year term
	Mr. Nicholas Dodd
	Reappointed September 2003 for a three-year term
	Ms Catherine Graham-Harrison
	Appointed August 2002 for a three-year term
	Sir Angus Grossart (Deputy Chair and Chair of the Committee for Scotland)
	Reappointed March 2002 for a three-year term
	Dr. Derek Langslow
	Appointed February 2002 for a three-year term
	Ms Susan Palmer
	Reappointed January 2001 for a three-year term
	Dr. Mike Phillips
	Appointed January 2002 for a three-year term
	Professor Tom Pritchard (Deputy Chair and Chair of the Committee for Wales
	Reappointed April 2002 for a three-year term
	Mr. Giles Waterfield
	Reappointed September 2003 for a three-year term
	Ms Primrose Wilson (Deputy Chair and Chair of the Committee for Northern Ireland)
	Reappointed April 2003 for a three-year term
	Mr. James Wright
	Reappointed November 2003 for a three-year term
	Mr. Mike Emmerich
	Appointed July 2003 for a three-year term.
	The Chair is entitled to claim £39,025 per annum, the Deputy Chairs are entitled to claim £17,590 per annum, and the Trustees may claim £5,832 per annum.
	The members of the Security Vetting Appeals Panel and their term of office are as follows:
	Right Hon. Dame Janet Smith (Chair)
	Reappointed October 2003 for a three-year term
	Sir Stephen Mitchell (Deputy Chair)
	Appointed June 2001 for a three-year term
	Sir John Blelloch KCB
	Reappointed July 2003 for a two-year term
	Sir Peter Woodhead KCB
	Reappointed July 2003 for a four-year term
	Mr. Peter Jones
	Reappointed July 2003 for a two-year term
	Dr. George Gray CBE
	Reappointed July 2003 for a four-year term.
	The Chair and Deputy Chair are unpaid. Other members are paid a daily rate of £203 when the Panel is sitting.
	The members of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and their term of office are as follows:
	Sir Nigel Wicks (Chair)
	Appointed March 2001 for a three-year term
	Ms Rita Donaghy QBE
	Reappointed March 2001 for a three-year term
	Professor Hazel Genn CBE
	Appointed October 2003 for a three-year term
	Sir Alastair Graham
	Appointed October 2003 for a three-year term
	Dame Patricia Hodgson DBE
	Appointed January 2004 for a three-year term
	Baroness Maddock
	Appointed November 2003 for a three-year term
	Rabbi Dame Julia Neuberger DBE
	Reappointed March 2001 for a three-year term
	Right Hon. Gillian Shephard DL MP
	Appointed November 2003 for a three-year term
	Right Hon. Chris Smith MP
	Appointed October 2001 for a three-year term
	Dr. Brian Woods-Scawen DL
	Appointed January 2004 for a three-year term.
	Those Committee members who do not already receive a salary from public funds may claim £180 for each day they work on Committee business. The Chair may claim £380 for each day spent on Committee business.

Secret Intelligence Service

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions since May 1997 he has called for specific briefing from the Secret Intelligence Service; and if he will list the countries involved.

Tony Blair: It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence matters.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Cambridgeshire Schools

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason the time limit given to Cambridgeshire county council for an appeal against the Government's grant settlement is 27 January.

David Miliband: The deadline for Cambridgeshire county council to give notice of any objection to the Secretary of State's notice dated 13 January 2004 determining a minimum schools budget for the Council for the financial year 2004–05 was actually 26 January because section 45C(1) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 provides that any such objection must be made within 14 days beginning with the date of the notice determining a minimum schools budget. The Council did give notice of objection on 26 January.

Cambridgeshire Schools

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons his Department rejected a request on 2 December 2003 from the leader of Cambridgeshire county council to discuss Cambridgeshire school's budgetary problems.

David Miliband: The Leader of Cambridgeshire county council wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister on 2 December with a copy to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills requesting a meeting with local government and education Ministers to discuss the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2004–05 and the implications for school funding. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Phil Hope), replied declining a meeting in line with the Government's clear position of not holding face-to-face meetings with local authorities during consultation on the provisional settlement. The Government believe that it would not be equitable to meet some authorities and not others. I recently met the Leader of the Council to hear the authority's position on the level of its schools budget for next year.

Chorley School Transport

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Chorley received free school transport to (a) secondary, (b) primary and (c) special schools in each year since 1996.

Charles Clarke: Although we collect data on home to school transport expenditure, we do not usually collect data on the number of children receiving free transport. However, in response to a recent survey, Lancashire said that it provides free home to school transport to about 17,000 pupils. Its expenditure on this was £16 million in 2001/02.

Criminal Records Bureau

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on further education colleges of the recent increase in fees set by the Criminal Records Bureau; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The effect on further education colleges of the recent increase in fees set by the Criminal Records Bureau will vary from institution to institution depending on staff turnover and the number of students for which criminal records checks are required. The Department does not collect data relating to staff turnover as this is a matter purely for the institutions, neither can it predict the likely rate of staff turnover in future years.
	It is the Government's policy to provide colleges with core funding levels which enable them to raise standards while meeting necessary cost pressures, rather than to compensate colleges separately for individual cost increases. Under the spending review 2002 proposals funding per student will rise by 7 per cent. on average in real terms between 2002–03 and 2005–06.
	Funding rates are kept under review and adjusted to reflect changes in costs incurred by colleges.

Food Advertisements (Schools)

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans his Department has to ban fast food advertising from vending machines in schools in England; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Department for Education and Skills has no plans to ban fast food advertising from vending machines in schools. The Headteacher and governing body of a school decide whether or not to install vending machines in schools, and where they are installed, the products that are sold.

Higher Education Funding

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of tuition fees on women medical students.

Alan Johnson: Under our proposals for the introduction of variable fees from 2006, women medical students who commence their undergraduate course in 2006 or later, will be liable to pay variable fees of up to £3,000 per year, if the institution they attend decides to charge them.
	The Government have made a number of proposals to safeguard access to higher education for those from low income families. Such students will continue, as now, to have the cost of the standard tuition fee (£1,125 in 2003/04) met by the Government. Around three in 10 students will also receive means tested Higher Education Grants of £1,000, to be raised to £1,500 for new students from 2006. In addition, many students from lower income families will be eligible for partial grant as well as bursaries and other support from universities under arrangements agreed by the Office of Fair Access.
	Fees for English domiciled medical students in years five and six are currently paid by the Department of Health. These students also qualify for means tested NHS bursaries in their fifth and subsequent years of study. Department of Health Ministers have indicated that they will, if necessary, take measures to ensure that any increase in the level of tuition fees will not have an adverse impact on the supply, retention, diversity or quality of students on health professional courses, including medicine. Arrangements for repayment of fee loans will, for all graduates, be heavily subsidised: graduates will repay their loans at zero real rate of interest and only when their income exceeds £15,000 per year. Repayments will then be made at a rate of 9 per cent. of income above £15,000. Loans will be written off after 25 years: that could particularly benefit female doctors who opt to take a career break.
	Figures collected in March 2003 show that 73 per cent. of newly qualified medical graduates in hospital posts earn £34,533 per annum. This compares very favourably with the salaries of other newly qualified graduates. According to Graduate Prospects, the average starting salary for graduate-level jobs was £18,000 in 2002/03.

Higher Education Funding

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his policy that trainee teachers will be exempt from university top-up fees; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: My right hon. Friend announced on 27 January that he will commission a report next year to examine gateways into the professions and the recruitment of graduates to the public services under the new student finance system. The findings of the report will inform the next comprehensive spending review.

Higher Education Funding

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether after the introduction of higher student fees he intends to maintain the universities block grant in real terms.

Alan Johnson: Future levels of funding for higher education will be subject to the outcomes of the current and subsequent spending reviews. I am, however, committed to safeguarding the level of funding for universities already set out to 2005–06 and expect to be able to deliver increases in future years.

Learning and Skills Councils

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to transfer powers and responsibilities held by Learning and Skills Councils to elected regional assemblies where they are introduced.

Alan Johnson: None. However, elected Regional Assemblies, where introduced, will have an important economic role. In our White Paper "Your Region, Your Choice" we set out proposals for each Assembly to appoint two members to the Board of each local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in its region, and for the national LSC to consult Assemblies on its guidance to the local LSCs. We also propose that local LSCs will be required to have regard to Assembly strategies, including in drawing up their spending plans; and to consult the relevant Assembly about their local plans.

School Funding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the implications of the grant settlement for 2004–05 on local education authorities' ability to provide centrally funded services.

David Miliband: The increase in Formula Grant for local education authorities for 2004–05 is 6.1 per cent. The increase for Schools Formula Spending is 5.7 per cent., which includes funding for centrally provided education services. The increase in the LEA sub-block is 3.4 per cent. which is higher than the rate of inflation. It is for authorities to balance their overall resources and spending pressures in drawing up their budgets.

School Meals

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 26 January 2004, Official Report, column 145W, on school meals, who has statutory responsibility for the provision of school meals if the governing body of a school resigns.

David Miliband: School meal provision is the responsibility of the governing body of a school if the school's delegated budget share included funding for meals. If the members of the governing body of such a school all resigned, the governing body would still exist as a corporate entity and would retain the statutory responsibility for meals provision. Although the head teacher would be able to exercise decision-taking powers in accordance with any formal delegation previously agreed by the governing body, it would be for the local education authority to make arrangements as soon as possible for the reconstitution of the governing body membership.

School and College Performance(Value Added Measures)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how value added measures will be used to determine action to be taken in (a) individual schools and (b) local education authorities.

David Miliband: Value added information on individual schools is published within the DfES School and College Performance Tables. The data may be used by schools and local authorities, alongside other information, to evaluate their performance in relation to pupils' progress. Local education authorities may augment the published information by providing schools with additional value added data, for example in relation to the performance of individual departments.
	The Government are keen to promote intelligent accountability of performance by individual schools as a key step in self-evaluation, and in order to identify areas where improvements may be needed. Value added data may also identify strong areas of the curriculum, and therefore examples of best practice, where expertise may be shared within schools, and with other schools. The Pupil Achievement Tracker, supplied by the DfES, enables schools to benchmark their value added performance against other schools with similar characteristics.

School and College Performance(Value Added Measures)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what value added score (a) a school and (b) a local education authority will need to achieve to be judged as satisfactory.

David Miliband: holding answer 2 February 2004
	Independent judgments about both schools and LEAs are principally a matter for Ofsted, through the inspection system. While an Ofsted judgment is likely to take into account value added criteria, the overall decision will be made on the basis of a wide range of inspection evidence.
	The Government have not set any upper or lower benchmarks in relation to published value added scores, but it is recognised that schools with scores at the lower end of the distribution for schools with similar levels of prior attainment are likely to be underperforming.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Common Agricultural Policy

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will publish the Government's response to the proposed Common Agricultural Policy reform.

Alun Michael: The Government will announce in a matter of weeks their decision on the method of payment for the CAP reform agreed last June.
	The Government are also engaged in the EU negotiations on proposals for further reform of the cotton, hops, olive oil, sugar and tobacco regimes.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when a national grant scheme will be set up to assist local authorities with their new powers under Part 1 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; and when the details of the scheme will be made available to local authorities.

Alun Michael: I am very keen to ensure that the new right of access is implemented as smoothly as possible on the ground and I met the Countryside Agency recently to consider its proposals for a National Grant Scheme to help local authorities, land managers and communities manage open access in their areas proactively. If this scheme is approved, the Agency will announce further details and guidance including the percentage grant-aid available and when it will accept applications.
	I hope to make a decision soon, but if we are able to help this will be a bonus for everyone. It is at least as important that local authorities start to gear up now for the introduction of the right of access under the Act, recognising the benefits and opportunities for them and those who live in their area.

Crematoria

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will quantify the financial impact on crematoria of introducing gas cleaning systems to all crematoria; and whether the principle of polluter pays will be adhered to.

Alun Michael: In reply to the point on financial impact, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer of 17 November 2003, Official Report, column 623W, by the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw).
	In line with the Polluter Pays Principle there are no funding packages linked to the Local Authority Pollution Control regime.

Large Combustion Plant Directive

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the implications for United Kingdom industry of the National Emissions Reduction Plan in relation to the Large Combustion Plant Directive.

Alun Michael: Defra commissioned analysis from independent consultants which examined the costs and benefits of the two implementation approaches. This analysis carried out prior to the 2003 consultation on the Directive, suggested that for the 2008–2024 period the national plan approach would cost UK industry as a whole around £650 million whereas the alternative approach—the emission limit values approach—would cost around £900 million.
	We have received a range of comments on the analysis in the consultation, and are continuing to assess the potential economic impact on UK industry of the introduction of the Directive using both internal analyses and independent research. We are also in detailed dialogue with industry to help us to understand their views as expressed in response to consultation.

Farming Subsidies

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the schemes under which payments are made to farmers in England; and what the total amounts paid under each scheme to (a) limited companies and (b) individuals were in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Alun Michael: Providing this information in the form requested has involved considerable work to interrogate the computer records in order to produce the required figures for England. In order to do so it has been necessary to include all businesses that do not incorporate the term "limited" in their title in the trading name under the heading "individuals".
	The following figures represent payments made in the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund Year 2003—16 October 2002 to 15 October 2003—and do not include Common Agricultural Policy market support schemes.
	
		£
		
			 Scheme Limited companies value Individualsvalue  
		
		
			 Arable Area Payments 186,582,223.13 682,615,833.19 
			 Arable Agrimonetary Aid 105,596.05 69,870.01 
			 Beef Agrimonetary Aid 29,533.43 473,716.88 
			 Beef National Envelope 991,509.93 13,630,439.57 
			 Beef Special Premium 7,348,365.73 109,024,177.25 
			 Extensification 3,338,151.33 51,927,956.37 
			 Hill Farming Allowance 947,164.39 38,212,678.88 
			 Milk — 263,043.48 
			 Sheep Annual Premium 4,437,189.52 100,437,173.61 
			 Suckler Cow Premium 5,236,163.74 71,972,974.84 
			 Sheep Agrimonetary Aid 89.70 7,809.36 
			 Slaughter Premium 5,375,867.10 61,472,846.45 
			
			  Rural Development Service Operated Schemes 
			 Arable Stewardship 4,047,399.33 1,313,793.43 
			 Countryside Access 2,417,329.19 16,643,660.50 
			 Countryside Stewardship — 31,451,770.61 
			 Energy Crops 75,096.40 66,693.60 
			 Environmentally Sensitive Areas 4,430,669.21 57,170,574.76 
			 Farm Woodland Premium 1,518,910.06 6,809,501.96 
			 Habitat 223,389.40 1,622,720.89 
			 Moorland — 25,350.00 
			 Nitrate Sensitive Areas 333,897.80 1,304,479.48 
			 Nitrate Vulnerable Zones 55,680.09 396,565.20 
			 Organic Farming 1,855,784.37 7,833,778.95 
			 Processing and Marketing Grant 5,558,457.51 1,664,423.52 
			 Rural Enterprise 3,285,539.56 14,709,634.85 
			 Vocational Training 601,553.90 1,296,838.65 
			
			 Structural Funds 13,474,107.46 8,505,521.90 
			
			 Total 252,269,668.33 1,280,923,828.19

Information Technology

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the (a) number and (b) location of Information Technology staff in her Department employed directly or on contract at each location outside Guildford.

Alun Michael: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has made a strategic decision to outsource the majority of its IT service delivery and functions under the e-nabling Defra Programme.
	The following table outlines the number of people involved in IT-related work based at each location, outside Guildford (based on our records as at December 2003):
	
		
			 Location Number of people undertaking IT related work(1) 
		
		
			 9 Millbank, London 1 
			 Alnwick 1 
			 Ashdown House, London (2)6 
			 Bristol 2 
			 Bury St Edmunds 2 
			 Caernarfon 1 
			 Cambridge 4 
			 Cardiff 2 
			 Carlisle 1 
			 Chelmsford 1 
			 Crewe 9 
			 Cromwell House, London 2 
			 Dorchester 1 
			 Eastbury House, London 1 
			 Ergon House, London 8 
			 Foss House, York 9 
			 Gloucester 1 
			 Harrogate 1 
			 Heathrow 1 
			 Kings House, Reading 21 
			 Launceston (2)1 
			 Leeds 6 
			 Leicester 1 
			 Lincoln 1 
			 Newcastle 2 
			 Nobel House, London (2)19 
			 Northallerton 1 
			 Norwich 2 
			 Nottingham 5 
			 Oxford 1 
			 Page Street, London 4 
			 Penrith 1 
			 Preston 2 
			 Shrewsbury 1 
			 Stafford 1 
			 Reading 1 
			 Reigate 1 
			 Taunton 1 
			 Temple Quay House, Bristol 3 
			 Trowbridge 1 
			 Truro 1 
			 Whitehall Place, London 4 
			 Woburn Place, London 6 
			 Wolverhampton 1 
			 Worcester 5 
			 Workington 10 
			 Wye 1 
			 Total 158 
		
	
	(1) Some of these people are undertaking a very minimal amount of IT work.
	(2) One of these posts is filled by a contractor.

Water Pollution

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research has been conducted on measures to deal with diffuse water pollution; and when she expects to bring forward proposals for legislation.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 30 January 2004
	The Government have funded programmes of research on the sources, transport and control of diffuse water pollution from agriculture over the last decade. The programmes cover nitrate, phosphorous, sediment/soil erosion, pathogens and the potential implications of control measures for different pollutants. The total annual budget (in 2003–04) is £3 million. The results of this research are available on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk/science). The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has also published related work in its report "The impacts of agricultural environmental management: case studies from theory to practice", which is available on the SEPA website (www.sepa.org.uk/publications/index.htm).
	This year we intend to publish for consultation detailed proposals for new powers to prevent and control diffuse pollution in England, as part of the action to implement the Water Framework Directive referred to in the "Third Consultation Paper on the Implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)", published in August 2003. The extent to which such new powers might need to be used in the future will depend on how far diffuse pollution can be controlled through other potential policy instruments, including voluntary action and economic instruments.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Gender Pay Gap

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women what steps she has taken to reduce the pay gap; and what evaluation she has made of the success of those steps.

Patricia Hewitt: The pay gap is a complex issue and the Government have limited direct levers to reduce it. However, the Government have taken a number of steps to address the underlying causes including promoting pay reviews by providing business with the tools to undertake them, leading the way through Civil Service pay reviews, introducing the Equal Pay Questionnaire and increasing support for child care, flexible working and work-life balance.
	It is extremely difficult to measure the impact of Government policy on the gender pay gap. Latest figures show that the gender pay gap closed by 1 percentage point to 18 per cent. on the mean measure, and stands at 12.9 per cent. on the median measure.

Gender Pay Gap

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women what assessment she has made of the implications of the gender pay gap for levels of female employment.

Patricia Hewitt: I have not made any specific assessment of the implications of the gender pay gap for levels of female employment. The employment rate for women in the UK currently stands at 70 per cent., well above the EU average and above the Lisbon target for the female employment rate of 60 per cent.
	What research has shown is that higher levels of female employment tend to be associated with larger gender pay gaps. For example Eurostat figures show that the EU country with the lowest gender pay gap, Italy, also has one of the lowest female employment rates in the EU at just 42 per cent., nearly 30 percentage points below the UK's.

Informed Choice/Extending Working Lives Programme

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister for Women if she will make a statement on the work of the (a) Informed Choice programme and the (b) Extending Working Lives programme.

Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement issued today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at column 33WS.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Agricultural Research

Michael Mates: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how, following the grant to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research in December 2003, he will ensure that there is parallel continuity for the bilateral centrally-funded research programmes upon which developing countries have been relying for capacity building and poverty-eradicating applied research; and whether he is providing bilateral funds for such strategic activity.

Hilary Benn: I was pleased to announce in December 2003 an additional £30 million over the next three years for the work of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. The UK is an active member of the Group and will continue to play a full part in its efforts to mobilise agricultural science to reduce poverty. This funding is additional to the bilateral research programme. I expect to maintain a strong bilateral programme into the future with a clear focus on the millennium development goals.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended, (c) dismissed, (d) prosecuted and (e) convicted for involvement in benefit fraud in each of the last six years; and what the amounts involved were in each of the cases listed.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID does not hold a central record of the information requested. I can confirm, however, that the Department is not aware of any of its staff having been involved in benefit fraud in any way within the last six years.

Direct Budget Support

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department will take in relation to budget support to identify trends in where the Department's money is being spent.

Hilary Benn: By its nature general budget support cannot be explicitly tracked once it reaches the recipient country budget. Sector budget support can be clearly classified at the broad level, although how this is subsequently distributed between sub sectors is not always known. For example, we may not be able to say how much of our support to the education sector in a particular country is spent on basic education.
	However to inform our understanding of where DFID aid flows are being directed, we are developing a method whereby budget support will be notionally classified by extrapolation from the recipient country's own budget plans. So, for example, if the Government were planning to spend 30 per cent. of its budget 1 on education, then 30 per cent. of our budget support to that country would be classified as expenditure on education. All reporting will state clearly that figures are based on notional allocations derived from budget plans and are therefore only indicative. Some data are already available along these lines.
	In the longer term we will seek to agree a standard methodology with other donor agencies facing similar problems.
	1 The extrapolation would only reflect that part of the budget which was for developmental purposes.

Direct Budget Support

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of direct budget support in Uganda.

Hilary Benn: The UK's current budget support arrangement in Uganda began in 2000. Its purpose is to support continued growth and economic stability, to reduce inequality, and to improve the impact of public spending in sectors that are key to poverty reduction and growth.
	An internal Project Completion Report (PCR) of the arrangement was completed in September 2003. It concluded that our support had significantly achieved its purpose. The flexibility and predictability of our budget support, together with the role we play in policy dialogue and in providing technical assistance, were identified as important to this success. The strength of our partnerships with Government and also with other donors have also been crucial. Most macroeconomic targets have been met, and the share of Government spending on poverty programmes has increased significantly. The impact of this expenditure has been shown, for example, in growing primary education enrolment, and in important health indicators such as attendance at primary health care clinics. A recent 'stocktaking' review of the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC), to which DFID's budget support is linked, has also reported positively on the PRSC budget support instrument.
	DFID commissioned an independent evaluation study of direct budget support in 2002. The first phase of this study (December 2002) developed a framework for evaluation that could be applied widely, using Uganda as a particular example. It concluded that budget support had led to improvements in the efficiency of budget allocations, the effectiveness of state institutions, and the degree of public accountability. This work is being used as the basis of a more comprehensive joint donor evaluation of budget support that is now getting under way.

Direct Budget Support

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has received from the National Audit Office on financial controls on direct budget support.

Hilary Benn: DFID works closely with the National Audit Office (NAO) to improve the value for money of the work we do. DFID worked with the NAO to develop and implement our corporate fiduciary risk policy. This is central to the appraisal and management of the risks associated with providing direct budget support.
	The NAO recently undertook a review of the safeguards we have in place to prevent misappropriation and diversion of UK aid. This was an important opportunity to take a joint look at the full range of our financial controls, including how we manage the fiduciary risk of budget support. The review concluded that:
	"DFID's work is well-regarded by its partners who acknowledge the leading and proactive role that DFID plays in tackling corruption issues."
	It made a number of detailed recommendations which we have taken forward.
	We will continue to work with the NAO in this area to ensure that we are able to maximise the developmental benefits associated with budget support.

North Korea

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the nature was of the £800,000 in bilateral aid from the UK to the People's Democratic Republic of Korea in 2001; and what the nature is of current UK bilateral aid to North Korea.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The £800,000 was humanitarian assistance that was channelled through the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) to support the health care system through the distribution of drugs and basic medical equipment. Also in 2001–02, we provided £1,200,000 to support UNICEF's primary health care programme and £75,000 to the IFRC for emergency assistance to flood victims. In 2002–03, we provided £200,000 to the IFRC for its flood prevention work.
	We have recently approved a grant of £1,023,000 to support UNICEF's work, in 2004, in primary health care, including improvements to the water and sanitation systems as well as essential medical supplies such as vaccinations.

Renewables

Michael Mates: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to maintain the UK's role in European Union research networks for renewable natural resources which are geared to helping developing countries to attain the Millennium Development Goals.

Hilary Benn: The principal network is the European Initiative for Agricultural Research for Development which aims to improve the relevance and effectiveness of European investments in agricultural research to reduce poverty in developing countries. The initiative is recognised by the European Parliament and Council and implemented by a coordinating group of members of the European Commission, the member states of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland. The UK is an active participant in the initiative and in the co-ordinating group. An official from my Department is currently seconded to the initiative as its executive secretary.

University Links

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many university links have been established by the higher education Link Scheme funded by his Department; and how the scheme is promoted in UK universities.

Hilary Benn: It is estimated that some 3,200 Links between higher education institutions in the UK and in 45 developing countries have been supported by the scheme since its establishment in 1981. The British Council manages and promotes the scheme. Higher education institutions in developing countries submit applications for Links funding to the Council (which will help identify suitable UK partners if the applicant requests this).
	The current Links Scheme is due to end in March 2006 and no new applications for funding can be accepted. However DFID is currently considering the report of a review of the scheme and possible future options for higher education partnerships. A decision on the outcome of that review is expected shortly.

Zimbabwe

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which non-governmental organisations active in Zimbabwe are receiving funding from his Department.

Hilary Benn: DFID directly funds a large number of international and Zimbabwean NGOs as part of its humanitarian support for food aid, agricultural recovery and HIV/AIDS. We support numerous NGOs indirectly through the funds we provide to UN agencies operating in Zimbabwe, such as World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Through our membership of the European Union (EU), the UK is also a significant contributor to NGO programmes through the EU's ECHO and Euronaid humanitarian programmes in Zimbabwe.
	DFID's main international NGO partners for relief and recovery in Zimbabwe are CAFOD, Christian Aid, Save the Children (UK), Oxfam, John Snow International, HELP (Germany), CARE international and Catholic Relief Service. Our major Zimbabwean NGO partners are FOSENET (a consortia of Zimbabwean NGOs), Farm Community Trust Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Red Cross.
	Our HIV/AIDS programme in Zimbabwe includes support for HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives implemented by local faith-based organisations, through Population Services International, and home-based care groups through John Snow International (UK).

WALES

Dee Cockle Regulation Order

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to hasten the implementation of the Dee Cockle Regulation Order.

Don Touhig: I understand that both the Welsh Assembly and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have responded swiftly and positively to requests for assistance in this matter from the Environment Agency Wales and stand ready to do so again if required.
	When the Environment Agency Wales submit a formal application for a Regulation Order, the Government will act as quickly as possible.

Ministerial Visits

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the visits he has made to armed forces' bases in Wales since October 2002.

Peter Hain: I recently met Brigadier Iain Cholerton, Commander 160 (Wales) Brigade and will shortly be visiting a Territorial Army training operation at Maindy Barracks in Cardiff.

National Assembly Powers

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the First Minister of the National Assembly to discuss (a) the Richard Commission in general, (b) the Labour Party's evidence to the Commission and (c) any differences between the Labour Party's Assembly Group's evidence and the evidence given by some Welsh Labour hon. Members.

Peter Hain: I meet the First Minister on a weekly basis and we discuss a wide range of issues including the Richard Commission. The Labour Party's position vis-à-vis the Commission is a matter for the party.

Wales Office

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the transfer of money for 2003–04 to the Department for Constitutional Affairs in respect of the Wales Office.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 November 2003, Official Report, columns 1–2WS, and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's written statement on 11 November 2003, Official Report, column 17WS.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Agency Workers

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the provisions relating to statutory sick pay, contained in the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 apply to agency workers.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 repealed a provision that prevented workers with contracts of three months or less from being entitled to SSP. Therefore all workers including agency workers may be entitled to SSP from day one, if they are treated as employees for National Insurance Contribution purposes.

Agricultural Labour

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many successful prosecutions have been brought under the Employment Agencies Act 1973 against (a) employment agencies and (b) gangmasters supplying labour to the UK's agricultural industry.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The total number of successful prosecutions undertaken by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate under the Employment Agencies Act 1973 is as follows:
	
		
			  Prosecutions 
		
		
			 1977 1 
			 1978 12 
			 1979 15 
			 1980 8 
			 1981 7 
			 1982 5 
			 1983 5 
			 1984 0 
			 1985 2 
			 1986 3 
			 1987 1 
			 1988 0 
			 1989 0 
			 1990 0 
			 1991 0 
			 1992 (to 31March 1992) 0 
			 1992–93 3 
			 1993–94 7 
			 1994–95 3 
			 1995–96 3 
			 1996–97 11 
			 1997–98 14 
			 1998–99 3 
			 1999–2000 3 
			 2000–01 2 
			 2001–02 8 
			 2002–03 8 
		
	
	Data broken down by sector of the private recruitment industry are not available. However, a gangmaster was prosecuted in 1994–95.

Computers (Tax Exemption)

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action has been taken and how much has been spent by the Government on promoting the annual tax exemption on loaned computers since it was introduced in 1999.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The exemption was set out in Budget and other published material when it was introduced in 1999, and it now features in publicly available Inland Revenue guidance on employment expenses and benefits.
	The exemption has recently received a major promotional boost with the launch, by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 19 January, of guidelines on Home Computing Initiatives. The Government have spent £370,000 on the production, promotion and distribution of these guidelines. Industry partners have also pledged significant funds and resources to promote the guidelines and HCI schemes more broadly.

Departmental Budget

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the (a) resource and (b) capital budget for her Department for each year between 1997 and 2007.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 29 January 2004
	These are listed on pages 190 and 194 of "Central Government Supply Estimates 2003–04 Supplementary Budgetary Information" (Cm 5797, May 2003), where a breakdown is available. Figures are shown from 1998–99 (the first year for which resource information was produced) to 2005–06 (the final year of the current Spending Review period). The summary figures are:
	
		£000
		
			  Resource budget Capital budget 
		
		
			 1998–99 3,107,878 18,303 
			 1999–2000 4,547,569 -8,205 
			 2000–01 6,579,561 37,860 
			 2001–02 6,595,438 88,840 
			 2002–03 7,652,813 376,308 
			 2003–04 4,918,551 1,196,194 
			 2004–05 5,260,042 164,000 
			 2005–06 5,738,519 101,000

Employment Rights (Information)

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  whether her Department has made an analysis of the impact of withdrawing paper copies of its leaflets on employment rights on the availability of free-of-charge, printed information at public libraries;
	(2)  whether her Department has made an analysis of the impact of withdrawing paper copies of its leaflets on employment rights on voluntary sector organisations providing free advice to the public in this area.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Yes. Last year the Department consulted leading customers to find out how our information on employment rights could be better focussed on users' needs. As part of this review, an assessment was made of the impact of withdrawing employment rights booklets, using information provided by the Department's distribution service. Public libraries did not appear as regular customers of the distribution service.
	The review concluded that Acas and other organisations who provide advice to employers and employees are generally better able to provide user-focussed advice, based on factual advice supplied by the Department. Acas recently produced a series of booklets summarising individual rights. These can be obtained free-of-charge from the Acas distribution centre on 08702 429090.
	Although voluntary sector organisations have been major users of the Department's employment rights booklets, I consider that Acas is generally better able to provide advice which meets the needs of these organisations.

Employment Rights (Information)

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the impact of withdrawing paper copies of its leaflets on employment rights on sections of the public who have difficulties either accessing or using the internet.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to his Question No. 149488, at column 776W.
	The Department has put in place special arrangements to supply our employment rights booklets on request where individuals are unable to access or use the internet.

Fisheries (Compensation)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she intends to publish the list of additional middle water vessels to be added to the list of vessels eligible for Icelandic fishermen's compensation claims; what period will be allowed for appeals; and when she plans to begin processing claims.

Nigel Griffiths: holding answer 30 January 2004
	I expect to publish a list of additional vessels on 2 February 2004. There will then be a period of three weeks for trawlermen or their representatives to appeal in respect of vessels not accepted on the list. Work on processing claims will begin immediately—there is no need for claimants to submit new applications.

Flexible Working

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what surveys between employers and employees were carried out before the legislation on flexible working was implemented; and what comparative surveys have been carried out since the legislation has been implemented.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Between December 2002 and April 2003, fieldwork was carried out for two DTI Work-Life Balance studies. Data were collected from employers and employees to provide a baseline for future evaluation of the availability and take-up of flexible working. Details of the results can be found at: www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar To provide a direct comparison over time, it is planned that both surveys will be repeated in 2006.
	The Department has subsequently commissioned questions on flexible working for an Office for National Statistics Omnibus survey. Results will become available in spring 2004.
	The Department is also working with key intermediaries, such as Working Families and Maternity Alliance, to gather qualitative evidence through member/supporter surveys. Additionally, in September 2003, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and Lovells conducted a survey of employers on the use of the flexible working law in the first six months after its implementation.
	Data collected will form the evidence base for a review of the legislation which the Government have said will commence in 2006.

Fuel Poverty

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) children and (b) elderly people are living in fuel poor households in (i) the East Midlands and (b) West Derbyshire.

Nigel Griffiths: Fuel poverty defined as occurring when a household needs to spend more than 10 per cent. of its income (including housing benefit and income support for mortgage interest) on all fuels in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime.
	The available information from the English House Condition Survey indicates that in 2001 there were 160,000 fuel poor households in the East Midlands Government Office region. (The current published official estimates of fuel poverty are extrapolated from a sample survey of 17,500 dwellings).
	More detailed breakdowns within the East Midlands Government Office region are not available from this survey as the sample size is not large enough to enable reliable detailed estimates of fuel poverty at a more local level to be produced.
	In England in 2001 under this definition there were 1.7 million households in fuel poverty. Of these, 210,000 contained children. 904,000 contained one or more persons aged 60 or more. The Government's estimates are available at: www.dti.gov.uk/energy/consumers/fuel poverty/index.shtml

Nuclear Industry

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to maintain the nuclear skills base.

Patricia Hewitt: The Government have been assisting in the establishment of a Sector Skills Council to represent the needs of the nuclear industry. Cogent Sector Skills Council is expected to be licensed shortly and will take a strategic view of the nuclear sector to ensure that the education and training base can meet nuclear employer's current and future needs.

Nuclear Industry

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will conduct a public consultation on nuclear power.

Patricia Hewitt: No. The Government consulted fully on energy policy, including nuclear, for the Energy White Paper published in February 2003. The White Paper clearly states that before any decision to proceed with the building of new nuclear power stations, there would need to be the fullest public consultation and the publication of a white paper setting out the Government's proposals.

Post Office

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what discussions she has had with Postcomm about the access charges to be charged by Royal Mail to private mail companies using parts of their network;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the (a) revenue and (b) profit that will be generated by the access charges to be charged by Royal Mail to private mail companies using parts of their network.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department has a regular dialogue with Postcomm on a wide range of postal issues concerning the postal market. However, decisions on access pricing are a matter for the companies concerned and for the regulator.
	Estimating the revenue and profit generated by Royal Mail through access charges charged to private mail companies using part of their network is a commercial matter for the Board of the company.

Research and Development Tax Credits

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what mechanisms are in place to assess the development of new products, services and processes which arise as a result of research and development tax credits; and what assessment has been made using these mechanisms.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 19 January 2004, Official Report, column 1044W.

Regional Development Agencies

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of completed projects failed to meet their required performance targets in each of the regional development agencies in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: Each RDA is involved in a huge number of projects at any one time and many as a co-funder with local and regional partners. Output targets are set for each project but this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Smart Award

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the take-up rates have been for the New Elements of the Smart scheme in each quarter since their inception in 1999.

Nigel Griffiths: The figures in the following tables show the number of applications received and offers made under the Smart scheme from 1 March 1999. The new elements introduced under Smart in 1999 were Micro Projects, Technology Reviews and Technology Studies. Micro projects were launched in August 1999 and Reviews and Studies in October 1999.
	The Feasibility, Development and Micro elements of Smart closed to applications on 31 August 2003. The Reviews and Studies element closed to applications on 31 May 2003.
	
		1999–2000
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
			  April to June July to September October to December January to March Total 
		
		
			 Feasibility  
			 Application 61 81 75 57 274 
			 Offer 33 58 97 63 251 
			 Development  
			 Application 41 37 41 43 162 
			 Offer 18 49 39 26 132 
			 Micro  
			 Application 0 0 9 26 35 
			 Offer 0 0 2 11 13 
			 Reviews  
			 Application 0 0 2 4 6 
			 Offer 0 0 0 6 6 
			 Studies  
			 Application 0 0 3 1 4 
			 Offer 0 0 0 4 4 
		
	
	
		2000–01
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
			  April to June July to September October to December January to March Total 
		
		
			 Feasibility  
			 Application 64 78 87 111 340 
			 Offer 61 43 66 67 237 
			 Development  
			 Application 63 52 43 65 223 
			 Offer 43 32 46 31 152 
			 Micro  
			 Application 40 53 40 50 183 
			 Offer 23 24 39 19 105 
			 Reviews  
			 Application 5 16 12 31 64 
			 Offer 4 13 11 27 55 
			 Studies  
			 Application 3 6 12 12 33 
			 Offer 3 5 10 11 29 
		
	
	
		2001–02
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
			  April to June July to September October to December January to March Total 
		
		
			 Feasibility  
			 Application 95 102 118 118 433 
			 Offer 66 83 81 82 312 
			 Development  
			 Application 45 51 55 64 215 
			 Offer 36 38 30 41 145 
			 Micro  
			 Application 50 50 49 53 202 
			 Offer 21 21 26 38 106 
			 Reviews  
			 Application 38 44 72 62 216 
			 Offer 35 35 62 46 178 
			 Studies  
			 Application 12 12 20 24 68 
			 Offer 7 9 8 12 36 
		
	
	
		2002–03
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
			  April to June July to September October to December January to March Total 
		
		
			 Feasibility  
			 Application 132 219 198 180 729 
			 Offer 107 102 139 150 498 
			 Development  
			 Application 71 101 90 69 331 
			 Offer 51 59 67 60 237 
			 Micro  
			 Application 28 56 63 48 195 
			 Offer 18 36 40 40 134 
			 Reviews  
			 Application 73 74 53 43 243 
			 Offer 56 65 52 44 217 
			 Studies  
			 Application 16 21 9 12 58 
			 Offer 13 20 10 13 56 
		
	
	
		2003–04
		
			  Q1 Q2 Q3  
			  April to June July to September October to December Total 
		
		
			 Feasibility 
			 Application 192 166 0 358 
			 Offer 158 115 73 346 
			 Development 
			 Application 79 29 0 108 
			 Offer 50 34 29 113 
			 Micro 
			 Application 43 19 0 62 
			 Offer 24 17 9 50 
			 Reviews 
			 Application 106 0 0 106 
			 Offer 93 0 0 93 
			 Studies 
			 Application 17 0 0 17 
			 Offer 16 0 0 16

Wage Levels(Catering, Tourism and Leisure Industries)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of low pay levels in the (a) catering, (b) tourism and (c) leisure sectors; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: According to the April 2003 grossed New Earnings Survey the bottom decile hourly earnings of employees in (a) the catering sector (SIC code 55.5) was £4.23 (b) tourism related industries (SIC codes 55.1, 55.2, 55.3, 55.4, 63.3, 92.5, 92.6, 92.7) was £4.20 and for (c) sports and leisure assistants (SOC 2000 code 6211) was £4.20. This compares to the bottom decile hourly earnings of £4.67 for all employees in the UK. The adult and youth rates of the National Minimum Wage at the time were £4.20 and £3.60 respectively.
	The vast majority of employers in the UK are complying with the National Minimum Wage but we will continue to take enforcement action where necessary to tackle the minority of bad employers.

Trade Barriers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether it is her objective to achieve a total elimination of all tariff barriers by all World Trade Organisation members.

Mike O'Brien: The chances of a total elimination of all Tariff barriers by all members of the World Trade Organisation are remote. Our aim is to reduce barriers as much as reasonably possible. A number of studies have concluded that the elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers would bring major benefits. In recent years, studies by Michigan University and the World Bank suggest that the elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers in industry and agriculture could boost global incomes by between $450 billion and $830 billion per annum over the longer term. From time-to-time for short periods tariffs or safeguards may have merit but our broad approach is to press for the elimination of as many tariffs as possible.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate the greater use of interim orders for anti-social behaviour; and what discussions he has had with the (a) police and (b) Crown Prosecution Service on this issue.

Hazel Blears: Interim Anti-Social Behaviour Orders were introduced in December 2002 under the Police Reform Act 2002 to prohibit anti-social behaviour at the start of the court process pending the outcome of the full application. Relevant authorities, that is, the police, local authorities, registered social landlords and housing action trusts can apply for interim orders in the civil magistrates and county courts. Feedback from these agencies is that they find interim orders to be a quick and effective tool in protecting people from anti-social behaviour.

Asylum Seekers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the details held on an asylum seeker include the region of the country from which they arise.

Beverley Hughes: Information about the region of the country from which an asylum seeker has arrived or originated may be obtained as part of the asylum screening process or during the investigation into their claim. Any such information will normally be recorded on an individual asylum seeker's Home Office case file.

Asylum Seekers

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assistance will be given to failed asylum-seeking families who cannot be returned to their country of origin because there are no removal agreements or removal arrangements have been suspended.

Beverley Hughes: Support will not be withdrawn from failed asylum-seeking families if they are taking reasonable steps to leave the United Kingdom voluntarily or placing themselves in a position in which they are able to leave voluntarily. Instances where there are no removal agreements or that removal agreements have been suspended, this factor will be taken into account but will not necessarily be the determining factor.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended, (c) dismissed, (d) prosecuted and (e) convicted for involvement in benefit fraud in each of the last six years; and what the amounts involved were in each of the cases listed.

Fiona Mactaggart: The figures so far as information is available in the form requested are as follows.
	
		Cases of benefit fraud
		
			 Department 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Home Office  
			 Investigated n/a n/a n/a (3)— (3)— n/a 
			 Suspended n/a n/a n/a (3)— n/a (3)— 
			 Dismissed n/a n/a n/a n/a (3)— (3)— 
			 Prosecuted n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Convicted n/a n/a n/a n/a (3)— (3)— 
			 Amount housing benefit (£) — — — n/a n/a 19,000 
			 Amount council tax benefit (£) — — — n/a n/a 2,000 
			
			 UK Passport Agency  
			 Investigated n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a (3)— 
			 Suspended n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a (3)— 
			 Dismissed n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Prosecuted n/a n/a n/a — — n/a 
			 Convicted n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Amount housing benefit (£) — — — — — 2,947.89 
			 Amount council tax benefit (£) — — — — — 482.18 
		
	
	n/a = indicates that no comprehensive figures available.
	(3) The process from investigation to conviction does not necessarily span only one year. E.g. suspended 2001, convicted 2002 and dismissed 2003.

Private Security Industry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) clubs and (b) pubs to ensure that their bouncers undergo professional training.

Hazel Blears: From 1 March this year, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) will roll out a mandatory national licensing scheme for door supervisors ('bouncers'). Licensing will commence in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and then roll out on a geographical basis across England and Wales. On current plans, door supervisors in the Midlands must obtain an SIA licence by 18 October 2004.
	To qualify for a door supervisor licence, applicants will be required to pass three checks. The first will be an identity check, the second a criminal record check, and the third a check on professional competence to do the job. Professional competence will be demonstrated by successfully completing a training course provided by a training provider accredited by an SIA approved awarding body. Details of the licensing criteria for door supervisors will shortly be posted on the SIA's website www.the-sia.org.uk.

Burglaries

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many burglaries were committed in the last 12 months for which figures are available, broken down by police force area; and in how many of those cases convictions were obtained for (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence, broken down by police force area.

Hazel Blears: Information on recorded burglaries in 2002–03, and sentencing statistics for 2002, are given in the tables.
	Total recorded burglary comprises the offences of burglary in a dwelling, and burglary in a building other than a dwelling.
	
		Number of persons sentenced for burglary1 at all courts and those sentenced to a custodial and non-custodial sentence, by police force area—England and Wales 2002
		
			Sentence breakdown 
			 Police force area Total sentenced Sentenced to a custodial sentence2 Sentenced to a non-custodial sentence 
		
		
			 Cleveland 677 377 300 
			 Durham 432 217 215 
			 Northumbria 927 389 538 
			 North East Region 2,036 983 1,053 
			 
			 Cheshire 500 288 212 
			 Cumbria 253 120 133 
			 Greater Manchester 1,614 816 798 
			 Lancashire 1,223 610 613 
			 Merseyside 650 358 292 
			 North West Region 4,240 2,192 2,048 
			 
			 Humberside 579 318 261 
			 North Yorkshire 300 162 138 
			 South Yorkshire 937 523 414 
			 West Yorkshire 1,598 873 725 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 3,414 1,876 1,538 
			 
			 Derbyshire 533 290 243 
			 Leicestershire 458 212 246 
			 Lincolnshire 323 137 186 
			 Northamptonshire 237 122 115 
			 Nottinghamshire 747 356 391 
			 East Midlands Region 2,298 1,117 1,181 
			 
			 Staffordshire 534 301 233 
			 Warwickshire 187 95 92 
			 West Mercia 494 246 248 
			 West Midlands 1,862 1,039 823 
			 West Midlands Region 3,077 1,681 1,396 
			 
			 Bedfordshire 224 131 93 
			 Cambridgeshire 335 174 161 
			 Essex 434 230 204 
			 Hertfordshire 314 145 169 
			 Norfolk 261 109 152 
			 Suffolk 235 89 146 
			 East of England Region 1,803 878 925 
			 
			 London, City of 27 14 13 
			 Metropolitan police 3,234 1,776 1,458 
			 London Region 3,261 1,790 1,471 
			 Hampshire 776 310 466 
			 Kent 489 220 269 
			 Surrey 191 88 103 
			 Sussex 402 214 188 
			 Thames Valley 744 360 384 
			 South-East Region 2,602 1,192 1,410 
			 
			 Avon and Somerset 695 379 316 
			 Devon and Cornwall 526 188 338 
			 Dorset 244 131 113 
			 Gloucestershire 247 93 154 
			 Wiltshire 233 92 141 
			 South-West Region 1,945 883 1,062 
			 
			 Dyfed Powys 214 77 137 
			 Gwent 384 146 238 
			 North Wales 317 147 170 
			 South Wales 785 388 397 
			 Wales 1,700 758 942 
			 
			 England and Wales 26,376 13,350 13,026 
		
	
	(4) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	(5) Detention and training order, detention in a young offender institution, detention under secs 91/92 of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 and unsuspended imprisonment.
	Source:
	Offending and Criminal Justice Group.
	
		Recorded offences of burglary by police force area and region 2002–03
		
			 Police force area All burglary offences recorded 
		
		
			 Cleveland 14,856 
			 Durham 7,656 
			 Northumbria 22,704 
			 North East Region 45,216 
			   
			 Cheshire 14,194 
			 Cumbria 4,898 
			 Greater Manchester 75,367 
			 Lancashire 20,487 
			 Merseyside 25,956 
			 North West Region 140,902 
			   
			 Humberside 27,127 
			 North Yorkshire 11,595 
			 South Yorkshire 34,468 
			 West Yorkshire 69,807 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 142,997 
			   
			 Derbyshire 18,465 
			 Leicestershire 12,832 
			 Lincolnshire 10,831 
			 Northamptonshire 11,381 
			 Nottinghamshire 33,190 
			 East Midlands Region 86,699 
			   
			 Staffordshire 15,172 
			 Warwickshire 7,437 
			 West Mercia 16,375 
			 West Midlands 56,531 
			 West Midlands Region 95,515 
			   
			 Bedfordshire 8,336 
			 Cambridgeshire 12,775 
			 Essex 16,909 
			 Hertfordshire 11,713 
			 Norfolk 9,681 
			 Suffolk 6,248 
			 East of England Region 65,662 
			   
			 London, City of 444 
			 Metropolitan police 113,427 
			 London Region 113,871 
			   
			 Hampshire 18,217 
			 Kent 18,371 
			 Surrey 9,727 
			 Sussex 17,321 
			 Thames Valley 29,432 
			 South East Region 93,068 
			   
			 Avon and Somerset 30,182 
			 Devon and Cornwall 15,700 
			 Dorset 7,355 
			 Gloucestershire 8,694 
			 Wiltshire 6,242 
			 South West Region 68,173 
			   
			 Dyfed Powys 2,104 
			 Gwent 7,586 
			 North Wales 8,543 
			 South Wales 18,615 
			 Wales 36,848 
			 England and Wales 888,951 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All burglary comprises burglary in a dwelling, and burglary in a building other than a dwelling.
	2. Total numbers of recorded crimes will be affected by changes in recording as a result of the implementation of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) across England and Wales on 1 April 2002. This impact will vary for different types of offences, with the impact for domestic burglary being an increase of 3 per cent. in the number of crimes recorded due to the NCRS.

Community Support Officers

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers are employed by each police authority.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 2 February 2004
	The table gives a breakdown of the number of Community Support Officers (CSOS) employed by each police authority.
	
		CSOs recruited to the end of January 2004
		
			 Authority Total CSOs recruited 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 46 
			 Bedfordshire 8 
			 Cambridgeshire 59 
			 Cheshire 33 
			 Cleveland 80 
			 Devon and Cornwall 55 
			 Dorset 7 
			 Durham 27 
			 Dyfed-Powys 5 
			 Essex 77 
			 Gloucestershire 60 
			 Greater Manchester 160 
			 Gwent 50 
			 Hertfordshire 30 
			 Kent 58 
			 Lancashire 111 
			 Leicestershire 44 
			 Lincolnshire 44 
			 Merseyside 78 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,372 
			 Norfolk 34 
			 Northamptonshire 12 
			 North Wales 8 
			 North Yorkshire 37 
			 Northumbria 45 
			 Nottinghamshire 43 
			 South Wales 63 
			 South Yorkshire 42 
			 Staffordshire 5 
			 Suffolk 12 
			 Surrey 64 
			 Sussex 72 
			 Thames Valley 6 
			 Warwickshire 28 
			 West Mercia 55 
			 West Midlands 59 
			 West Yorkshire 206 
			 Wiltshire 24 
			 Total 3,219

Correspondence

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister for Citizenship and Immigration will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Spelthorne of 10 November 2003, about a constituent, Mr. J. A. Hernandez.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 19 January 2004
	I wrote to the hon. Member on 29 January 2004.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 8 December 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Dr. Louis Sterling;
	(2)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 8 December 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Dr. Louis Sterling.

David Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 28 January 2004.

Corruption Offences (Legal Assistance)

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for mutual legal assistance his Department has received for corruption offences since November 1997; from which countries these requests came; when they were received; and how long it took for his Department to process each request.

Caroline Flint: The United Kingdom is committed to assist its international partners in the fight against corruption and has recently signed the UN Convention Against Corruption. The UK Central Authority (UKCA) in the Home Office has processed a number of such cases during the period in question. However, the more detailed statistics sought by the hon. Member are not available as UKCA does not currently collate them in a manner that can produce data according to offence type.

Crime Statistics

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect on total recorded crime of changes in recording practice since 1997–98.

Hazel Blears: There have been two major changes to recording practices which have affected total recorded crime since 1997–98. In April 1998, the Home Office Counting Rules were substantially revised and in April 2002 the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) was adopted nationally in England and Wales. These changes were introduced to promote greater consistency between police forces in the recording of crime, to take a more victim-oriented approach to crime recording and to improve the overall quality of statistics on recorded crime.
	It is estimated that the changes to the Home Office Counting Rules introduced in April 1998 had the effect of increasing total recorded crime by 14 per cent. and the introduction of the NCRS is estimated to have increased total recorded crime by 10 per cent. in 2002–03.
	Further details on these changes to recording practices and their effects on recorded crime statistics can be found in "Recorded Crime Statistics England and Wales, April 1998 to March 1999" and "Crime in England and Wales 2002–03", copies of which are available in the Library. A more detailed account of the impact of NCRS is given in "National Crime Recording Standards (NCRS): An Analysis of the Impact on Recorded Crime. Companion Volume to Crime in England and Wales 2002–03", which is available on the Home Office website.

Crime Statistics

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects measures introduced by the Department to result in a reduction of recorded crime.

Hazel Blears: The latest published data, covering the period July to September 2003, show that total recorded crime is stable compared to the same period 12 months previously. This includes falls in robbery (2 per cent.), domestic burglary (3 per cent.), other burglary (8 per cent.), and thefts of and from vehicles (8 per cent.).
	Recorded crime is not the best indicator of long-term trends in crime because it is sensitive to changes in police recording practices and public reporting to the police. However, the British Crime Survey, which is not affected by these factors and which covers unreported and unrecorded crime as well as crimes reported to the police, shows that crime has fallen by 25 per cent. since 1997, with a further 1 per cent. fall in the 12 months to September 2003 compared to the year ending September 2002.

Crime Statistics

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why statistics on crime in Wales are not separated from statistics for England.

Hazel Blears: Statistics on crime in Wales are published separately in a number of publications. For example, the "Digest of Welsh Statistics 2003", published by the National Assembly for Wales, contains a chapter on crime and justice statistics. This can be found on the Welsh Assembly website at http://www.wales.gov.uk/keypubstatisticsforwales/content/publication.htm. A range of other statistics are available through the Welsh Assembly website at http://www.wales.gov.uk/keypubstatisticsforwales/topicindex/topics.htm under "Crime".
	The Home Office Statistical Bulletin 7/03, "Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003" includes breakdowns of statistics for Wales, and for police forces within Wales, along with equivalent figures for English regions. These statistics include the number of recorded offences broken down by offence group, with offences per 1,000 population given for these figures. Victimisation rates are also given, as well as overall detection rates over time for Wales, methods of detection in 2002–03, and rates of detection for each main offence group in 2002–03. There are also breakdowns of violent crime offences, burglary and vehicle crime offences by police force area. In the internet publication, a separate chapter contains a summary for Wales of the main findings from crime statistics and British Crime Survey and this is available at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/wales.pdf.
	Supplementary Volume 2 to "Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003", which deals with public attitudes to crime, disorder and the criminal justice system, was published on 22 January. It includes figures for Wales, as well as English regions, concerning confidence in the criminal justice system, confidence in the police, perceptions of crime, and worry about crime.

Police Service (Essex)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time police officers were employed in Southend in each of the last 10 years.

Hazel Blears: The deployment of officers to basic command units and to other specialist units in Essex police is an operational matter for the Chief Constable (Mr. David Stevens QPM).
	Information on police officer numbers for each Basic Command Units is only available for March 2002 and 2003 and is set out in the table.
	
		Southend basic command unit
		
			  Basic command unit strength 
		
		
			 31 March 2002 (6)267 
			 31 March 2003 (7)273 
		
	
	Source:
	(6) HM Inspectorate of Constabulary Annual Statistical Return for March 2002
	(7) Research, Development and Statistical Directorate (RDS). Details for BCU strength in Essex police can be found on the RDS pages of the Home Office website.

Police Service (Essex)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to increase the establishment of the Essex Constabulary.

Hazel Blears: It is for the Chief Constable (Mr. David Stevens QPM), in consultation with the Essex Police Authority, to determine police officer numbers subject to the budget set by his authority.
	At the end of August 2003 Essex Police had record strength of 3,063, which is 102 more officers than in March 1997. I understand that Essex Police expect strength to be 3,081 by March this year. In addition Essex Police plan to have 55 Community Support Officers by 31 March 2004.
	We have supported increases in police strength through the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF). Essex Police was allocated 197 CFF recruits over the three years to March 2003 fully funded by the Home Office. Continuation funding will continue for these posts. In addition Essex was allocated a further 10 CFF posts for 2003–04 funded at the rate of 75 per cent. For 2004–05 it is proposed that funding for these posts will be at the rate of 60 per cent.
	Police staff make an important contribution to policing of Essex as many have been used to free police officers for operational duties. Between March 1997 and March 2003 police staff strength in Essex increased by 483 to 1,682.

Criminal Records Checks

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what unplanned expenditure has been incurred in each financial year by (a) his Department and (b) the Criminal Records Bureau since the commencement of the Criminal Records Project.

Hazel Blears: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is an executive agency of the Home Office. The CRB's Corporate and Business Plans for 2002–07 projected planned expenditure of £167.7 million up to 30 September 2003. Actual expenditure for the period was £123.9 million. In addition, £1.26 million was spent in the first financial year of the project, financial year 1999–2000. Planned and actual expenditure can be broken down by financial year as follows.
	
		£ million
		
			  Planned Actual 
			 Financial year Gross spend Fee income Operating deficit Gross spend Fee income Operating deficit 
		
		
			 1999–2000 1.20 0.00 (1.20) 1.26 0.00 (0.06) 
			 2000–01 5.30 0.00 (5.30) 4.60 0.00 (4.60) 
			 Percentage 36.80 3.30 (33.50) 27.60 1.50 (26.10) 
			 2002–03 83.30 63.20 (20.10) 57.90 18.30 (39.60) 
			 ¾ (to 30 September 2003) 42.30 38.60 (3.70) 33.80 17.10 (16.70) 
			 Total 168.90 105.10 (63.80) 125.16 36.90 (87.06) 
		
	
	The Home Office and other departments have contributed towards meeting deficits.

Criminal Records Checks

Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  whether the Criminal Records Bureau is meeting its targets for processing applications for taxi driver licences;
	(2)  what percentage of applications for taxi driver licences were processed by the Criminal Records Bureau within target times in the latest month for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many applications for taxi driver licences are (a) awaiting processing and (b) being processed by the Criminal Records Bureau.

Hazel Blears: I am unable to answer my hon. Friend's question about the percentage of applications for taxi-driver licences processed by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) within target times because the CRB does not hold information in that format. However, overall, the CRB has been consistently meeting its targets for processing Disclosure applications since June 2003. The following table illustrates the current position.
	
		
			 Service performance December Year to date 
		
		
			 90 per cent. of Standard Disclosures issued within two weeks Exceeded 93 per cent. 
			 90 per cent. of Enhanced Disclosures issued within four weeks Exceeded 92.9 per cent. 
			 90 per cent. of calls answered within 20 seconds Exceeded 89.6 per cent. 
			 5 per cent. of applications over six weeks old Exceeded n/a 
		
	
	To the CRB, applications awaiting processing are those where an applicant has asked for a form to be sent out and the form has not been returned to the CRB. Applications being processed are those that have been fully and correctly completed by the customer and returned to the CRB. No disclosure applications for taxi drivers or anyone else are withheld from going on to the CRB computer system; all are immediately processed upon receipt.

European Arrest Warrant

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU member states have adopted the recent proposals for a European Arrest Warrant; and how many have indicated that they will adopt it in due course.

Caroline Flint: Eight EU member states are now operating the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). They are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
	The remaining member states are in the process of implementing the EAW into their domestic legislation.

Extraditions

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what records are kept on extraditions to EU countries from the UK.

Caroline Flint: Since the commencement of the Extradition Act 2003 on 1 January 2004, the National Criminal Intelligence Service has maintained an electronic record of extradition requests to the UK from those EU countries which have implemented the European Arrest Warrant, while the Home Office has maintained an electronic record of extradition requests from other EU countries. Prior to 1 January this year, the Home Office maintained an electronic record of such requests from all EU countries going back to 1997; and there are earlier paper records.

Home Office Challenge Fund

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which local initiatives have benefited from the Home Office Challenge Fund; and how much each local initiative has received.

Fiona Mactaggart: In 2003–04 almost £2 million will have been allocated to 43 projects, both new recipients and existing ones, throughout the United Kingdom. These projects cover a range of innovative local schemes to help refugees play a full and active role in their new communities, for example through assisting access to the job market, acquisition of employable skills, English language tuition, and supporting families through education and training.
	More information on all the selected projects is available on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate Home Office website.
	
		List of organisations awarded grants from the 2003–04 challenge fund
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 East of England  
			 Employability Forum 28,650 
			 East of England Consortium 47,300 
			   
			 London  
			 East London Somali Association 43,585 
			 Evelyn Oldfield Unit 31,500 
			 Refugees Into Jobs 93,297 
			 Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund 40,000 
			 Common Purpose 32,000 
			 Ethiopian Community Centre in the UK 27,917 
			 South London Tamil Welfare Group 25,750 
			 Praxis 71,496 
			 Hackney Playbus 13,390 
			 RETAS 73,812 
			 The Presswise Trust 90,640 
			 FOREF (Friends of Refugees Forum) 12,950 
			 Sierra Leone Refugee  
			 Welfare Association 21,750 
			 Holy Cross Centre Trust 31,500 
			 Council for Assisting Refugee  
			 Academics 30,000 
			   
			 North East  
			 Newcastle City Council 31,800 
			 Mental Health Matters 62,000 
			 Stockton District Advice and Information Service 12,588 
			   
			 North West  
			 North West Consortium 63,189 
			 Toxteth Community College 44,954 
			 Liverpool Family Service Unit 64,714 
			 North West Consortium 14,041 
			 British Red Cross (running two projects) 88,000 
			   
			 Scotland  
			 Scottish Refugee Council 19,489 
			 Prince's Trust 44,800 
			 Glasgow ESOL Forum 35,506 
			   
			 South East  
			 Care co-operatives 19,570 
			 Thanet Early Years Project 14,404 
			 Kent Refugee Action Network 39,140 
			 Community Self Build Agency 33,000 
			   
			 South West  
			 Women's Business Development Agency 50,000 
			   
			 Wales  
			 Cardiff City Council 51,272 
			 SOVA 78,093 
			   
			 West Midlands  
			 Roselodge—CIP 116,000 
			 Wolverhampton Refugee Settlement and Integration 67,364 
			 Midland Refugee Council 56,650 
			   
			 Yorkshire and Humberside  
			 Refugee Lifeline 40,000 
			 Yemeni Economic and Training 50,000 
			 CALTEC 41,541 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Consortium 46,014

Home Office Challenge Fund

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Home Office Challenge Fund will continue indefinitely; what funding will be made available in each of the next five years; and what criteria are used in allocating funding from the Challenge Fund.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Challenge Fund was introduced in 2001 to support local projects helping those who have fled persecution and been granted asylum in the UK to integrate into their new communities. Initially a three-year scheme, the Home Office announced in December 2003 that it planned to continue the Challenge Fund for the foreseeable future.
	The availability and amount of funding over the next five years is dependent on future Spending Reviews and on evidence of how beneficial the funding stream has been to support the integration of refugees. It is currently expected that £3 million will be made available for both 2004–05 and 2005–06.
	When allocating funding, consideration is given to the relevance of the project to the Home Office integration strategy, outlined in "Full and Equal Citizens", to its cost-effectiveness, and to the expertise and reliability of the applicant and any partner, organisations; applications must, of course, be focused on refugees and those granted Humanitarian or Discretionary Leave. Projects are subjected to a programme of monitoring and evaluation in order to identify those projects that are most effective in helping to integrate refugees.

Illegal Entrants (London Airports)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal entrants have been detected at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) Stansted, (d) Luton and (e) City airport in each of the last six years.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 19 January 2004
	The number of people against whom illegal entry action was initiated in each of the last six years for which information is available is shown in the table. Information on the ports at which these persons were detected is unavailable and would be available by examination of individual case-files only at disproportionate cost.
	
		Persons against whom illegal entry action was initiated 1997 to 2002
		
			  Number of persons 
		
		
			 1997 14,390 
			 1998 16,500 
			 1999 21,165 
			 2000 47,325 
			 2001 69,875 
			 2002(8) 48,050 
		
	
	(8) Provisional figures.
	Illegal entry action is initiated against those people who are detected entering the country clandestinely or by means of deception, either verbal or documentary.
	This information and other statistics on the immigration and asylum system are published annually in the Command publication "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom" a copy of which is in the House Library and can be found on the Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether information technology (a) hardware and (b) software products are being used properly in his Department.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office (core directorates including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND)) has outsourced support for most of its IT infrastructures, including desktop computers, to three companies:
	Sirius (Fujitsu Services with IBM and Global Crossing) covering the core office and some IND locations (the 'POISE' infrastructure);
	Siemens covering caseworking for IND; and
	Steria covering the Probation Service areas.
	Home Office contracts provide for the audit of supplier service provision including licence provision. Asset registers are maintained for the major infrastructures. The Home Office allows its staff and people working on behalf of the Department reasonable personal use of its IT equipment. Usage is monitored in accordance with the Information Commissioner's Code of Practice: Monitoring at Work. The Department's notices: 'Non-official use of Home Office telephones and computer facilities', 'Use of POISE and the Internet including non-official purposes' and 'Warning to Staff: Misuse and Abuse of IT' set out Departmental policy to staff. Misuse of hardware and/or software assets may lead to disciplinary measures including dismissal.

Information Technology

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what cost savings have been made in his Department since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated.

Fiona Mactaggart: A Centre of Excellence was established within the Home Office in June 2003 to integrate the essential functions which underpin the successful delivery of all types of acquisition based programmes and projects. As cost benefits will not accrue until improvements start to take effect, it is too early to measure cost savings. All centres of excellence are currently developing future plans and as part of this process measurement of savings will be defined.

Knives

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to bring forward proposals to differentiate between kitchen knives and combat knives in legislation.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 27 January 2004
	None. Current legislation recognises that all knives have potential to cause injury and, in general, does not distinguish between kitchen knives and combat knives. Under the Knives Act 1997, it is an offence to market a knife which indicates that it is suitable for combat or is likely to encourage violent behaviour.

Knives

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what efforts are being made to ensure that children under the age of 16 do not (a) buy and (b) carry knives.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 27 January 2004
	Section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 makes it an offence to sell a knife or other article with blade or point to persons under 16 years of age. Under Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is an offence of having an article with a blade or point in a public place without good reason or lawful excuse. An exemption applies to folding pocket knives with a blade of less than three inches. The Government supports operations by the Police and Trading Standards Officers to enforce this legislation.

Metropolitan Police

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the rate of Metropolitan police officer abstractions was from each London borough for (a) counter-terrorism, (b) special operations and (c) public order event policing work in each of the last 12 months; what the average was for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 26 January 2004
	The numbers of Metropolitan police officer abstractions from each London borough for counter-terrorism, public order and other event policing work during the last 12 months and average abstractions for each borough for the last three years are shown in the following tables. These statistics are taken from data stored within the Public Order Strategic Management Information System held by the Metropolitan Police.
	Information on abstraction by borough prior to 2001 is not available.
	
		Number of constables abstracted for Counter Terrorism (Ceremonial, Royal visits and security Events) from 1January 2003 to 31December 2003
		
			  January February March April May June July 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 2 32 154 361 194 166 109 
			 Barnet 4 94 205 457 221 290 126 
			 Belgravia 0 90 144 260 145 122 76 
			 Bexley 0 53 128 361 129 167 86 
			 Brent 1 176 55 339 265 283 148 
			 Bromley 0 86 185 544 210 247 100 
			 Camden 4 159 243 534 423 339 103 
			 Charing Cross 8 123 124 198 128 102 116 
			 Croydon 0 108 185 553 316 360 89 
			 Ealing 0 218 184 456 166 323 103 
			 Enfield 2 82 201 472 168 257 43 
			 Greenwich 0 80 223 567 404 340 198 
			 Hackney 0 89 109 326 307 332 52 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 111 41 230 56 81 73 
			 Haringey 2 89 69 241 249 346 76 
			 Harrow 0 95 121 276 62 153 86 
			 Havering 2 35 164 377 235 205 70 
			 Hillingdon 0 255 190 500 237 257 25 
			 Hounslow 0 232 156 503 90 255 108 
			 Islington 6 108 184 404 201 310 110 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0 141 186 415 313 284 104 
			 Kingston 0 71 105 239 214 130 23 
			 Lambeth 13 280 188 780 504 372 186 
			 Lewisham 0 88 182 436 191 302 83 
			 Marylebone 0 89 101 240 65 140 104 
			 Merton 0 77 119 259 99 47 33 
			 Newham 8 60 473 921 154 178 140 
			 Paddington 0 83 107 187 70 51 79 
			 Redbridge 6 76 68 288 153 183 98 
			 Richmond 1 109 118 242 88 130 71 
			 Southwark 0 247 143 654 442 371 145 
			 Sutton and Epsom 0 97 105 323 225 103 86 
			 Tower Hamlets 4 78 370 583 319 371 123 
			 Waltham Forest 0 84 209 438 257 231 62 
			 Wandsworth 0 192 189 427 268 232 59 
			 West End Central 0 110 162 185 284 173 82 
			 Total 63 4,197 5,890 14,576 7,852 8,233 3,375 
		
	
	
		
			  August September October November December Total 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 1 231 18 150 22 1,440 
			 Barnet 14 273 35 333 45 2,097 
			 Belgravia 14 196 62 209 25 1,343 
			 Bexley 0 151 1 169 12 1,257 
			 Brent 37 338 19 335 51 2,047 
			 Bromley 2 209 6 273 21 1,883 
			 Camden 12 234 55 587 49 2,742 
			 Charing Cross 84 432 42 328 47 1,732 
			 Croydon 14 187 6 299 3 2,120 
			 Ealing 30 274 19 350 26 2,149 
			 Enfield 8 290 100 292 18 1,933 
			 Greenwich 1 373 7 289 14 2,496 
			 Hackney 17 400 25 456 66 2,179 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 7 370 3 306 2 1,280 
			 Haringey 7 427 46 337 19 1,908 
			 Harrow 15 167 12 149 8 1,144 
			 Havering 0 216 25 189 12 1,530 
			 Hillingdon 65 192 0 210 43 1,974 
			 Hounslow 42 159 5 266 25 1,841 
			 Islington 0 346 19 401 58 2,147 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 36 385 12 424 7 2,307 
			 Kingston 35 71 2 146 1 1,037 
			 Lambeth 48 416 57 547 45 3,436 
			 Lewisham 15 387 8 405 9 2,106 
			 Marylebone 14 188 15 262 37 1,255 
			 Merton 7 83 6 169 3 902 
			 Newham 39 468 23 361 23 2,848 
			 Paddington 13 271 23 321 64 1,269 
			 Redbridge 15 267 38 245 20 1,457 
			 Richmond 22 136 2 162 0 1,081 
			 Southwark 50 484 21 527 36 3,120 
			 Sutton and Epsom 14 80 4 141 2 1,180 
			 Tower Hamlets 28 437 61 475 65 2,914 
			 Waltham Forest 21 273 38 269 22 1,904 
			 Wandsworth 21 293 5 344 25 2,055 
			 West End Central 7 254 47 290 43 1,637 
			 Total 755 9,958 867 11,016 968 67,750 
		
	
	
		Number of constables abstracted for Public Order (includes Public Order, Football and other sporting events) from 1January 2003 to 31December 2003
		
			  January February March April May June July 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 189 102 189 105 99 85 61 
			 Barnet 190 149 261 129 172 64 221 
			 Belgravia 82 31 97 96 47 75 53 
			 Bexley 94 64 158 99 47 46 35 
			 Brent 129 78 226 382 310 122 198 
			 Bromley 132 88 171 150 80 57 95 
			 Camden 197 140 322 225 295 156 162 
			 Charing Cross 162 198 155 138 115 96 89 
			 Croydon 123 158 353 316 135 67 113 
			 Ealing 221 133 244 205 187 166 131 
			 Enfield 217 116 165 148 89 59 341 
			 Greenwich 267 127 243 261 174 89 140 
			 Hackney 285 88 248 425 152 340 144 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 243 289 352 478 163 129 156 
			 Haringey 182 151 200 481 137 269 319 
			 Harrow 142 81 163 114 142 55 66 
			 Havering 92 87 200 118 147 36 43 
			 Hillingdon 131 75 235 111 116 36 105 
			 Hounslow 165 110 325 212 120 74 84 
			 Islington 303 168 343 217 307 122 168 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 127 92 121 172 77 110 161 
			 Kingston 58 71 139 78 76 81 104 
			 Lambeth 258 212 423 546 222 230 131 
			 Lewisham 201 169 298 203 121 96 173 
			 Marylebone 94 43 176 117 205 112 132 
			 Merton 106 76 140 113 109 286 231 
			 Newham 273 283 248 263 180 78 127 
			 Paddington 54 32 108 76 54 90 66 
			 Redbridge 194 91 185 156 120 116 157 
			 Richmond 78 117 168 124 133 66 38 
			 Southwark 221 142 311 471 191 173 153 
			 Sutton and Epsom 76 33 141 90 56 101 49 
			 Tower Hamlets 255 370 204 134 142 29 126 
			 Waltham Forest 241 166 219 189 207 196 44 
			 Wandsworth 148 117 257 184 108 142 160 
			 West End Central 123 73 172 111 45 70 107 
			 Total 6,053 4,520 7,960 7,437 5,080 4,119 4,683 
		
	
	
		
			  August September October November December Total 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 178 33 118 56 139 1,354 
			 Barnet 262 103 143 91 179 1,964 
			 Belgravia 156 37 62 29 28 793 
			 Bexley 129 46 82 45 118 963 
			 Brent 409 248 106 174 311 2,693 
			 Bromley 206 78 111 50 127 1,345 
			 Camden 476 361 181 89 365 2,969 
			 Charing Cross 164 92 75 2 137 1,423 
			 Croydon 419 136 171 76 253 2,320 
			 Ealing 406 99 106 292 164 2,354 
			 Enfield 343 130 68 68 285 2,029 
			 Greenwich 279 83 70 85 82 1,900 
			 Hackney 360 174 54 77 489 2,836 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 389 196 236 242 292 3,165 
			 Haringey 463 253 266 162 448 3,331 
			 Harrow 93 106 91 87 179 1,319 
			 Havering 210 35 63 73 166 1,270 
			 Hillingdon 251 69 79 93 196 1,497 
			 Hounslow 239 103 140 108 191 1,871 
			 Islington 406 237 169 182 357 2,979 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 384 71 174 44 141 1,674 
			 Kingston 144 69 68 34 123 1,045 
			 Lambeth 481 321 221 135 264 3,444 
			 Lewisham 496 190 220 124 261 2,552 
			 Marylebone 323 32 40 54 83 1,411 
			 Merton 252 36 61 34 109 1,553 
			 Newham 510 176 176 141 228 2,683 
			 Paddington 235 53 94 64 112 1,038 
			 Redbridge 390 86 78 147 136 1,856 
			 Richmond 103 101 50 29 133 1,140 
			 Southwark 428 201 199 77 243 2,810 
			 Sutton and Epsom 131 33 74 20 72 876 
			 Tower Hamlets 301 154 60 94 226 2,095 
			 Waltham Forest 318 105 88 95 216 2,084 
			 Wandsworth 314 77 161 70 218 1,956 
			 West End Central 170 52 96 70 86 1,175 
			 Total 10,818 4,376 4,251 3,313 7,157 69,767 
		
	
	
		Number of constables abstracted for 'Other' events (other than Football, Sport, Public Order, Ceremonial, Royal Visit or Security) from 1January 2003 to 31December 2003
		
			  January February March April May June July 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 34 48 21 27 22 24 182 
			 Barnet 26 39 16 46 22 28 82 
			 Belgravia 12 6 1 17 11 24 43 
			 Bexley 28 25 21 20 10 11 42 
			 Brent 54 38 25 43 34 43 49 
			 Bromley 40 10 21 13 54 63 122 
			 Camden 43 22 4 6 19 10 144 
			 Charing Cross 65 20 11 20 22 11 17 
			 Croydon 27 20 23 20 37 25 79 
			 Ealing 40 171 97 157 55 49 84 
			 Enfield 42 36 21 21 23 23 90 
			 Greenwich 82 24 28 41 30 12 80 
			 Hackney 56 40 25 21 64 42 138 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 25 7 2 0 18 9 9 
			 Haringey 71 31 57 19 60 60 95 
			 Harrow 36 21 16 37 3 23 4 
			 Havering 39 36 10 26 9 44 90 
			 Hillingdon 47 31 26 28 4 7 43 
			 Hounslow 26 44 33 20 24 28 83 
			 Islington 16 9 1 18 4 21 96 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 20 27 8 20 66 30 73 
			 Kingston 10 1 30 8 25 6 28 
			 Lambeth 62 26 21 29 62 61 254 
			 Lewisham 87 31 21 20 35 24 187 
			 Marylebone 3 27 1 0 3 1 34 
			 Merton 26 8 21 17 3 8 43 
			 Newham 36 49 40 89 40 26 86' 
			 Paddington 18 10 16 21 2 24 34 
			 Redbridge 24 33 32 29 14 37 85 
			 Richmond 10 10 70 10 21 39 21 
			 Southwark 42 30 21 20 107 48 204 
			 Sutton and Epsom 18 23 23 20 23 18 45 
			 Tower Hamlets 48 491 126 29 42 71 202 
			 Waltham Forest 122 35 28 28 21 45 106 
			 Wandsworth 28 26 49 20 24 28 65 
			 West End Central 5 7 16 0 10 24 79 
			 Total 1,368 1,512 982 960 1,023 1,047 3,118 
		
	
	
		
			  August September October November December Total 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 46 19 9 22 17 471 
			 Barnet 67 30 52 63 32 503 
			 Belgravia 22 28 38 86 31 319 
			 Bexley 28 38 89 121 71 504 
			 Brent 56 46 196 48 22 654 
			 Bromley 31 38 108 129 88 717 
			 Camden 54 26 23 76 30 457 
			 Charing Cross 23 54 185 138 62 628 
			 Croydon 28 45 90 124 84 602 
			 Ealing 108 54 108 51 33 1,007 
			 Enfield 55 43 32 50 25 461 
			 Greenwich 183 37 119 99 84 819 
			 Hackney 121 40 40 139 43 769 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 17 21 34 77 27 246 
			 Haringey 46 30 32 92 15 608 
			 Harrow 70 17 17 23 36 303 
			 Havering 66 32 13 18 7 390 
			 Hillingdon 14 11 29 4 12 256 
			 Hounslow 55 27 39 71 28 478 
			 Islington 48 17 226 55 34 545 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 36 56 65 257 172 830 
			 Kingston 18 20 15 26 23 210 
			 Lambeth 97 71 99 238 155 1,175 
			 Lewisham 69 55 117 229 98 973 
			 Marylebone 13 49 68 112 31 342 
			 Merton 25 18 107 153 84 513 
			 Newham 123 50 116 153 101 909 
			 Paddington 26 25 33 58 1 268 
			 Redbridge 61 34 33 30 13 425 
			 Richmond 55 14 22 43 22 337 
			 Southwark 176 53 118 240 117 1,176 
			 Sutton and Epsom 21 25 65 94 67 442 
			 Tower Hamlets 82 45 120 163 97 1,516 
			 Waltham Forest 91 51 39 57 31 654 
			 Wandsworth 44 60 105 179 85 713 
			 West End Central 38 50 75 106 62 472 
			 Total 2,113 1,329 2,676 3,624 1,940 21,692 
		
	
	
		Average monthly number of constables abstracted by borough
		
			  2001 2002 2003 
			  Counter Terrorism Public Order Other Counter Terrorism Public Order Other Counter Terrorism Public Order Other 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 65 50 149 30 77 35 120 113 39 
			 Barnet 81 120 165 58 109 75 175 164 42 
			 Belgravia 103 66 42 45 52 22 112 66 27 
			 Bexley 51 69 154 35 63 68 105 80 42 
			 Brent 124 144 59 82 153 84 171 224 54 
			 Bromley 76 82 171 50 92 59 157 112 60 
			 Camden 138 173 118 88 184 62 228 247 38 
			 Charing Cross 108 105 79 64 98 38 144 119 52 
			 Croydon 89 145 169 67 208 62 177 193 50 
			 Baling 103 157 160 61 185 69 179 196 84 
			 Enfield 132 135 80 45 158 60 161 169 38 
			 Greenwich 14 147 123 66 150 68 208 158 68 
			 Hackney 130 142 208 76 180 92 182 236 64 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 65 244 103 42 293 29 107 264 20 
			 Haringey 99 194 85 47 230 80 159 278 51 
			 Harrow 84 87 66 28 63 28 95 110 25 
			 Havering 91 80 69 35 77 41 127 106 32 
			 Hillingdon 86 95 94 48 120 41 164 125 21 
			 Hounslow 70 123 108 43 137 41 153 156 40 
			 Islington 106 212 79 62 232 44 179 248 45 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 129 145 85 55 170 55 192 139 69 
			 Kingston 65 68 67 29 70 32 86 87 17 
			 Lambeth 166 215 197 94 268 84 286 287 98 
			 Lewisham 104 184 170 75 189 67 175 213 81 
			 Marylebone 105 88 56 34 74 15 105 118 28 
			 Merton 47 84 142 25 87 26 75 129 43 
			 Newham 153 134 184 70 164 92 237 224 76 
			 Paddington 76 85 54 76 74 11 106 86 22 
			 Redbridge 91 93 110 41 107 50 121 155 35 
			 Richmond 63 66 69 28 79 21 90 95 28 
			 Southwark 151 168 192 102 204 70 260 234 98 
			 Sutton and Epsom 38 50 140 29 53 21 98 73 37 
			 Tower Hamlets 95 126 129 75 167 81 243 175 126 
			 Waltham Forest 123 128 78 44 128 63 159 174 54 
			 Wandsworth 74 133 192 52 155 82 171 163 59 
			 West End Central 102 92 39 47 71 14 136 98 39 
		
	
	Source:
	P.O.S.M.I.S.

National Criminal Intelligence Service

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of corruption received by the National Criminal Intelligence Service have resulted in NCIS reporting these allegations to authorities in a foreign jurisdiction.

Caroline Flint: There are currently nine entries on the Register of reported allegations. On one occasion National Criminal Intelligence Service has, on behalf of a UK police force, made an enquiry in a foreign jurisdiction relating to one of these allegations.

National Criminal Intelligence Service

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Criminal Intelligence Service (a) has provided and (b) is intending to produce a problem profile of the offence of bribery of a foreign public official.

Caroline Flint: The National Criminal Intelligence Service has not provided a problem profile on the specific subject of bribery of foreign public officials, although the issue of corruption is discussed in a number of the wider assessments. There are no current plans for a specific assessment on this topic.

Police (North Wales)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last received a report on policing in North Wales from the Chief Constable of North Wales police.

Hazel Blears: The Chief Constable of North Wales incorporated his annual report for 2002–03 into the North Wales police "Policing Our Communities 2003–2004" publication which was sent to my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary in July 2003. This document can be found at www.north-wales.police.uk.

Police (Cumbria)

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Cumbria Police's local policing teams initiative.

Hazel Blears: In February 2003, the Chief Constable of Cumbria, Michael Baxter, introduced, with the agreement of the police authority, a four-year programme to establish local policing teams in response to demand from the local community. Early signs are encouraging. Those community constables already in place are providing reassurance to the public and helping to develop longer-term strategies to improve people's quality of life in Cumbria.

Police (Early Retirement)

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of police officers in each police force has been given early retirement in each of the last four years.

Hazel Blears: Figures relating to the number of police ill-health retirements in forces between 1999–2000 and 2002–03 are given in the table. For greater consistency police ill-health retirements are now measured in terms of the number of retirements per 1,000 force strength.
	
		
			   1999–2000  2000–01 
			 Force Police medical retirements Medical retirements per 1,000 officers Police medical retirements Medical retirements per 1,000 officers 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 40 13.6 42 14.0 
			 Bedfordshire 18 17.5 18 17.4 
			 Cambridgeshire 10 8.1 11 8.5 
			 Cheshire 17 8.5 22 10.9 
			 City of London 11 14.9 9 12.6 
			 Cleveland 15 10.6 9 6.3 
			 Cumbria 20 18.5 24 22.9 
			 Derbyshire 12 6.8 12 6.6 
			 Devon and Cornwall 20 7.0 15 5.0 
			 Dorset 10 7.7 12 8.9 
			 Durham 8 5.1 8 5.0 
			 Dyfed-Powys 12 11.5 14 13.2 
			 Essex 51 18.2 34 11.6 
			 Gloucestershire 8 7.2 7 6.0 
			 Greater Manchester 132 19.4 110 16.0 
			 Gwent 25 19.8 16 12.6 
			 Hampshire 20 5.8 17 4.9 
			 Hertfordshire 10 5.7 13 6.8 
			 Humberside 11 5.9 20 10.5 
			 Kent 18 5.6 29 8.7 
			 Lancashire 17 5.3 30 9.2 
			 Leicestershire 22 11.0 28 13.6 
			 Lincolnshire 10 9.0 4 3.3 
			 Merseyside 45 11.0 47 11.5 
			 Metropolitan Police 289 11.4 225 9.0 
			 Norfolk 12 8.7 10 7.0 
			 Northamptonshire 5 4.5 8 6.9 
			 Northumbria 43 11.4 28 7.3 
			 North Wales 15 10.8 31 21.5 
			 North Yorkshire 25 19.5 37 28.2 
			 Nottinghamshire 21 9.4 16 7.0 
			 South Wales 52 17.6 76 24.4 
			 South Yorkshire 24 7.6 30 9.4 
			 Staffordshire 3 1.4 9 4.2 
			 Suffolk 15 13.1 14 12.4 
			 Surrey 14 7.8 18 8.7 
			 Sussex 16 5.7 16 5.6 
			 Thames Valley 19 5.1 20 5.4 
			 Warwickshire 9 10.0 15 16.2 
			 West Mercia 27 14.3 28 14.4 
			 West Midlands 28 3.9 29 3.9 
			 West Yorkshire 45 9.3 44 9.1 
			 Wiltshire 8 7.2 5 4.5 
			 Total 1,232 10.1 1,209 9.8 
		
	
	
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 
			 Force Police medical retirements Medical retirements per 1,000 officers Police medical retirements Medical retirements per 1,000 officers 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 42 13.6 34 10.8 
			 Bedfordshire 8 7.5 7 6.3 
			 Cambridgeshire 10 7.0 8 5.8 
			 Cheshire 22 10.7 25 11.9 
			 City of London 8 10.0 4 4.9 
			 Cleveland 21 14.4 11 7.6 
			 Cumbria 7 6.4 7 6.1 
			 Derbyshire 9 4.9 12 6.0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 19 6.1 9 2.9 
			 Dorset 10 7.0 3 2.1 
			 Durham 15 9.2 11 6.9 
			 Dyfed-Powys 13 11.5 11 9.5 
			 Essex 32 10.8 21 7.1 
			 Gloucestershire 10 8.5 13 10.5 
			 Greater Manchester 57 7.8 33 4.5 
			 Gwent 24 18.0 22 16.3 
			 Hampshire 19 5.3 11 3.0 
			 Hertfordshire 8 4.1 7 3.4 
			 Humberside 11 5.4 10 4.7 
			 Kent 38 11.3 21 6.0 
			 Lancashire 39 11.8 22 6.4 
			 Leicestershire 7 3.4 9 4.2 
			 Lincolnshire 3 2.5 10 8.1 
			 Merseyside 58 14.1 51 12.4 
			 Metropolitan Police 219 8.4 150 5.3 
			 Norfolk 16 10.9 13 8.6 
			 Northamptonshire 6 4.9 3 2.5 
			 Northumbria 33 8.4 21 5.2 
			 North Wales 20 13.3 14 9.0 
			 North Yorkshire 16 11.4 9 6.2 
			 Nottinghamshire 14 6.0 16 6.3 
			 South Wales 50 15.8 33 10.1 
			 South Yorkshire 30 9.4 17 5.3 
			 Staffordshire 24 11.3 22 9.7 
			 Suffolk 13 10.8 12 9.8 
			 Surrey 24 11.9 12 6.2 
			 Sussex 16 5.5 9 3.0 
			 Thames Valley 17 4.4 29 7.4 
			 Warwickshire 7 7.2 8 8.0 
			 West Mercia 28 13.9 20 8.8 
			 West Midlands 30 4.0 21 2.7 
			 West Yorkshire 61 12.5 23 4.0 
			 Wiltshire 3 2.6 15 12.8 
			 Total 1,114 8.8 821 6.2

Police Patrols

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued in relation to (a) police officers and (b) community support officers patrolling in groups of two or more; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Hazel Blears: Issues relating to patrol, whether carried out by officers or Community Support Officers are operational matters and as such the responsibility of Chief Officers.
	I understand that the Assistant Chief Police Officers are considering the issue of advice to Chief Officers on risk assessment in relation to patrol.

Police Pensions

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former police officers are receiving pensions from each police force; and what the annual cost will be in 2003–04.

Hazel Blears: Specific information relating to each police force about the number of former police officers with pensions is not held centrally. The total number of police pensions in payment (including ill-health retirees and dependants) at 1 April 2003 was 106,739. The most recent estimate is that about three-quarters of these pensions in payment will be to former officers. The estimated total number of police pensions in payment at 31 March 2004 is 109,502.
	The annual cost of police pensions in 2003–04 has not yet been determined. However, in total, forces in England and Wales estimate that their police pension bill for 2003–04 will be £1,234,675,000. As stated in the National Policing Plan 2002, we are exploring the options for a revised system of funding which would bring greater clarity about pensions obligations on individual police authorities.

Police Recruitment

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on each phase of the "Could You?" police recruitment campaign to date; and how many officers have been recruited as a direct result.

Hazel Blears: The first phase of the Police "Could You?" recruitment campaign ran for three years from 2000 to March 2003 and cost just under £16 million. This was the first national police recruitment campaign and it was launched against a background of police numbers which had been steadily falling for years. The campaign was executed on TV, cinema, press, radio and on-line. We cannot say how many police officers were recruited as a direct result of the campaign. While advertising is an important factor in encouraging potential applicants to apply, it is not the only factor. However, we know that interest in the police service rose during and after the campaign and the numbers of police recruits went up after a prolonged period of decline. Three years later we now have record numbers of police officers.
	The current recruitment campaign will run from November 2003 to March 2004. The campaign is targeted at women and minority ethnic people who are currently under-represented in the police service. It is also aimed at increasing the number of Special Constables. The campaign will cost just under £5.8 million in total. It includes TV, radio and press advertising and on-line advertising. It also includes production of a recruitment brochure and a recruitment video, PR support for four pilot forces, enhancement of the police recruitment website, and call handling facilities.
	It will not be possible to say how many people were recruited as a direct result of the campaign. However, we will be tracking the level of interest in the police service generated by the campaign through the website and call centre. We will also be tracking the visibility of our advertisements, public perception of them, and attitudes towards the attractiveness of a police career through regular surveys.

Police Reform

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the results of the consultation exercise on police reform launched on 4 November 2003 will be available.

Hazel Blears: The results of the initial consultation exercise on police reform will be made available as soon as possible after the end of the consultation period on 27 January 2004. However, consultation on police reform will be an on-going process and will continue beyond this date. The responses received will be used to develop the reform agenda and we will consult on more detailed options for reform later in 2004.

Rural Policing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what areas in Lancashire meet the requirement for the Rural Policing Fund.

Hazel Blears: The Rural Policing Fund is allocated to police authorities on the basis of population and a measure of sparsity of population. The sparsity measure is calculated at Census enumeration district level, aggregated for the whole authority area. The police authority area as a whole rather than particular parts, qualifies for allocation from the Fund.

Sexual Offences

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces have dedicated anti-paedophile units; and how many officers are working in those units.

Paul Goggins: Every chief officer of police has dedicated staff and resources to tackling sexual offending against children and child pornography. Separate anti-paedophile units are one way for police forces to organise operations against those who sexually abuse children. However, in some forces officers work within different structures, such as child protection teams, intelligence units or public protection units. Information on the approach adopted by each police force is not held centrally.
	In all cases, forces will be supported by the specialised teams working on this issue in the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the National Crime Squad.There is no central record held of the numbers of officers currently engaged in work on the specific issue of child sexual abuse.

Sexual Offences

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources have been made available to police forces to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of offenders under section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Paul Goggins: The investigation and prosecution of offenders under section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act will be undertaken within existing resources. Whilst the offence is designed to allow earlier intervention than is possible under the current law, that is, before a child is sexually abused, the investigation of grooming of children for sexual motives is not a new area of responsibility for the police.

Statutory Sick Pay

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: Please see the figures given in the following table, which relate to staff in central Home Office plus Immigration and Nationality Directorate and cover approximately 20,000 staff. The details have been broken down by tax year (6 April to 5 April) with the exception of the current tax year, for which data has been supplied up to 31 January 2004. The Home Office pays Statutory Sick Pay over five days, Monday to Friday. A week has therefore been classed as five days.
	
		
			  Staff total for 1 April at end offinancial year(9) 
			 Tax year Less than5 days 5 to15 days 16 to30 days 31 to60 days 61 to100 days More than 101 days Totalcases Stafftotals Cases of sickness divided by staff levels 
		
		
			 1997 to 1998 1,101 639 235 172 75 71 2,293 8,070 3.52 
			 1998 to 1999 1,199 772 259 199 82 71 2,582 7,710 2.99 
			 1999 to 2000 1,380 858 299 177 96 112 2,922 9,270 3.17 
			 2000 to 2001 1,643 1,069 365 220 110 159 3,566 13,020 3.65 
			 2001 to 2002 1,763 1,147 416 295 143 196 3,960 13,550 3.42 
			 2002 to 2003 2,063 1,310 501 376 198 211 4,659 16,157 3.47 
			 2003 to January 2004 1,827 1,094 379 325 185 147 3,957 17,968 — 
		
	
	(9) FTE of permanent staff, core Home Office including IND but not Prison Service or agencies.
	Source:
	Civil Service statistics for staff totals up to year 2002; after that, provisional figures taken from Home Office PIMMS staff database.

Victim Support (Data Protection)

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued to chief constables in England regarding the disclosure of names and contact details of victims of crime to victim support charities following recent data protection legislation.

Hazel Blears: Guidance regarding the arrangements for referring the contact details of victims of crime to Victim Support by police forces was issued in Home Office Circular 44/2001 of 3 October 2001. This guidance was developed following extensive consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers, Victim Support and the Information Commissioner. It takes into account the requirements of the data protection legislation.

Violent Crime (West Mercia)

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes against people were committed in each year since 1997 in West Mercia.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the following table.
	
		Numbers of violent crimes(10) recorded by West Mercia police
		
			  Offences recorded 
		
		
			 1997(11) 4,213 
			 1998–99(12) 7,964 
			 1999–2000 9,157 
			 2000–01 8,765 
			 2001–02(13) 18,440 
			 2002–03 21,499 
		
	
	(10) In accordance with Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded crime, violent crime comprises offences of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.
	(11) Crimes were recorded on a calendar year basis until 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter.
	(12) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
	(13) West Mercia Police implemented the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) on 1 April 2001, which was a year earlier than the official introduction across England and Wales on 1 April 2002. Broadly, the NCRS had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police, with violent crime in particular being affected. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

BBC Charter

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the budget is for implementing the young people's version of the BBC Charter Review consultation; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 2 February 2004
	There is no separate budget for consultation of children and young people. The current consultation stage is expected to cost around £325,000 (not including staff costs) and part of this will provide for events, currently being planned, for children and young people.
	The consultation was translated by the Children's Rights Alliance for England at no cost to the Department. Graphic design of the accompanying leaflet and an initial print run of 5,000 copies cost a total of £2,454.
	We are publicising this consultation via existing relationships, as well as with around 150 organisations with an interest in increasing young people's participation in decision-making. The consultation will also be publicised in the DfES publication, Spectrum, which is distributed to schools.

Licensing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  whether her Department encourages staged closing times for (a) pubs and (b) clubs in England and Wales;
	(2)  what discussions her Department has had with the Home Office regarding the public order implications of a standard closing time for pubs in city centres in England and Wales.

Richard Caborn: Current closing times are matters of legislation and extensions of these hours are matters for consideration by licensing justices under that legislation, on a case by case basis.
	The Licensing Act 2003 will, when it is brought into force, allow applicants for premises licences or club premises certificates to state in their application, to the relevant licensing authority, what hours they wish to be authorized to carry out licensable activities and to stay open to the public (these times may be different). Where there are representations, relating to the licensing objectives, from interested parties or responsible authorities about opening hours the licensing authority will, in most cases, have to hold a hearing in order to decide what the opening hours should be. These decisions will be taken on a case by case basis. The 2003 Act does not require and the Guidance, to be issued by the Secretary of State under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 (which will be subject to parliamentary approval), will not promote staged closing times. The Licensing Act 2003 was not designed to replace the peaks of disorder and anti-social behaviour, which currently occur at fixed closing times, with a series of smaller peaks. On the contrary, our aim is to promote, in areas where it is appropriate, generally later (but not standard) closing times for pubs and clubs, which will allow customers to disperse gradually over a longer period. We consider, for these reasons, that the 2003 Act will reduce the concentrations of people leaving premises at the same time and queuing for public transport and fast food, which can lead to disorder under the present system.
	The policy underpinning the Licensing Act 2003 was originally developed in the Home Office and, since the policy responsibility was transferred to my Department in June 2001, we have continued to work closely with the Home Office on all aspects of the prevention of crime and disorder that arise in the context of licensing law.

European Regional Development Fund

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money her Department has received from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in each year since 1998; and how much her Department estimates it will receive from the ERDF in each year until 2006, broken down by (a) capital and (b) resource income.

Richard Caborn: The Department does not receive money from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) directly. However, projects in the English regions that fall within DCMS' policy responsibility have received the following amount of ERDF funds in each year since 1998 1 :
	
		
			  ERDF (£) 
		
		
			 1998 62,057,761 
			 1999 47,558,076 
			 2000 37,245,008 
			 2001 41,453,979 
			 2002 41,988,937 
			 2003 52,965,361 
		
	
	We expect that ERDF expenditure on cultural-related projects will remain at broadly this level until 2006.
	1 The Department has been unable to break down the figures by (a) capital and (b) resource income as the necessary codings have changed year-on-year.

Food/Drink Advertisements

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress her Department has made in reviewing the code of conduct relating to food and drinks advertisements in order to encourage the promotion of healthy eating.

Estelle Morris: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has a responsibility only in relation to broadcast advertising. It is currently participating in the consultation being undertaken by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on food promotion to children, and the Department of Health's Food and Health Action Plan group, both of which are exploring ways to promote healthy eating. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has also written to Ofcom asking them to examine the adequacy of their codes regulating the content of broadcast advertising of food, in light of the conclusions of the work undertaken by the FSA, the Department of Health and the Health Select Committee's inquiry into obesity. It is principally the responsibility of Ofcom to ensure that there is an appropriate code for the regulation of broadcast advertising and the Secretary of State looks forward to the outcome of their work.

Honours

David Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 19 January 2004, Official Report, column 1001W, on honours, if she will name the three individuals who have received an honour since 1999.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 2 February 2004
	Alexander Murphy was awarded the OBE in the new year 1999 honours list for his contribution to rugby league football. Both Jason Robinson and Phil Larder were awarded the MBE in the new year 2004 honours list for their achievements in rugby union, but also in recognition of their previous involvement in rugby league at the highest level.

Public Service Agreement

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her Department's progress against its Public Service Agreement to raise significantly, year on year, the average time spent on sport and physical activity by those aged 5 to 16 years.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 2 February 2004
	This target was replaced following the 2002 Spending Review with the PSA target that I share with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to increase the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high-quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum. Detailed data are now being collected for the first time—for publication in April—on progress against the new target.

Regional Sports and Arts Boards

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many members there are on each (a) regional sports board and (b) regional arts board; and how many of each are local government councillors.

Richard Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is not responsible for appointing the members of the nine regional sports boards and the nine regional arts boards. Sport England (SE) and Arts Council England (ACE) will be able to provide the requested information. The Chair of each regional arts board has a place on the main ACE board, as do three of the SE Regional Sports Board Chairs at any one time on a rotational basis. The Secretary of State has a role in these appointments and a list of current Regional Chairs follows, one of whom is a local government councillor.
	
		
			  Chairs 
		
		
			 Regional arts council chairs  
			 East Professor Stuart Timperley 
			 East Midlands Stephen Lowe 
			 London Lady Hollick 
			 North East Paul Collard 
			 North West Tom Bloxham MBE 
			 South East Deborah Grubb 
			 South West Professor Alan Livingston 
			 West Midlands Dorothy Wilson 
			 Yorkshire Sir Norman Adsetts QBE 
			   
			 Regional sports board chairs 
			 East Robin Miller 
			 East Midlands Len Jackson(14) 
			 London VACANT 
			 North East Tim Cantle-Jones 
			 North West Andy Worthington 
			 South East Mary McAnally 
			 South West Ged Roddy(14) 
			 West Midlands Vacant 
			 Yorkshire Peter Price(14) , (15) 
		
	
	(14) Currently on the national board of Sport England
	(15) Member of Sheffield City Council

S4C

Brian Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the sums committed by her Department to S4C in each year since 1997; and what the projected sums are for each of the next three years.

Estelle Morris: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's allocations for S4C for each financial year from 1997–98 to 2005–06 are:
	
		£ millions
		
			  Departmental allocation 
		
		
			 1997–98(16) 18.4 
			 1998–99 75.1 
			 1999–2000 75.1 
			 2000–01 75.1 
			 2001–02 76.8 
			 2002–03 80.2 
			 2003–04 85.2 
			 2004–05 92.2 
			 2005–06 92.2 
		
	
	1 From January 1998, under the new funding formula introduced by the Broadcasting Act 1996, S4C's annual grant ceased to be paid in full in January each year and became payable in instalments. The budget allocation for 1997–98 therefore covered the period January to March 1998 only.
	Departmental allocations for 2006–07 have yet to be determined.
	S4Cs statutory grant entitlement is calculated on a calendar year basis and may therefore differ from the Department's allocation for the corresponding financial year.

Scottish Gaelic

Brian Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the expenditure by her Department on reserved functions relating to Scottish Gaelic since 1999.

Estelle Morris: The Department has not incurred any expenditure on reserved functions relating to Scottish Gaelic. Responsibility for the Gaelic Broadcasting Fund (GBF) was devolved to Scottish Ministers in June 1999.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who the members of the (a) National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, (b) Public Lending Right Advisory Committee, (c) Radio Authority, (d) Reviewing Committees on the Export of Works of Art and (e) Royal National Theatre were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Richard Caborn: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		National Museums Liverpool
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			 Chair David McDonnell 1 April 2000 31 March 2005 No 
			 Trustee Alan Waterworth 1 April 1999 31 March 2004 No 
			 Trustee Margaret MacKeith 1 February 2000 31 January 2005 No 
			 Trustee Sarah Palmer 1 February 2000 31 January 2005 No 
			 Trustee Eva Wisemark 21 January 2002 20 January 2006 No 
			 Trustee Professor Gordon McGregor Reid 1 February 2001 31 January 2006 No 
			 Trustee Christopher Green 1 April 2001 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee Dr. Janet Kear 1 April 2002 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee Gillian Reynolds 1 April 2001 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee Graham Barrie Marsh 1 April 2002 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee Professor John Tarn 1 April 2001 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee The Earl of Derby DL 1 April 2001 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee Viscountess Mersey 1 April 2001 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee Councillor Frank Doran 20 April 2002 19 April 2006 No 
			 Trustee Sir Neil Cossons 14 May 2002 13 May 2006 No 
			 Trustee Loyd Grossman OBE 21 July 2003 20 July 2007 No 
			 Trustee Alexis Redmond 24 July 2003 23 July 2007 No 
		
	
	
		Public Lending Right Advisory Committee
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			 Chair Simon Brett 7 August 2003 6 August 2007 No 
			 Member Gill Coleridge 29 October 2001 28 October 2005 No 
			 Member Theresa Breslin 18 March 2002 17 March 2006 No 
			 Member Miranda McKearney 16 May 2002 15 May 2006 No 
			 Member Dr. James Parker MA PhD 1 August 2001 31 July 2006 No 
			 Member Robert Froud 20 January 2003 19 January 2007 No 
			 Member Dr. Maggie Gee 6 August 2003 5 August 2007 No 
		
	
	
		Radio Authority
		
			 Position Chair 
		
		
			 Name David Witherow 
			 Start date 29 December 2003 
			 End date 28 December 2008(16) 
			 Remuneration No 
		
	
	(16) Or until wound up, if earlier.
	
		Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			 Chair Lord Richard Inglewood 1 December 2003 30 November 2007 No 
			 Member Pamela Robertson 1 December 2003 30 November 2007 No 
			 Member Martin Levy 1 March 2003 28 February 2005 No 
			 Member Timothy Knox 14 March 2002 13 March 2006 No 
			 Member Dr. David Ekserdjian 14 November 2002 13 November 2006 No 
			 Member Johnny Van Haeften 28 June 2001 27 June 2004 No 
			 Member Amanda Arrowsmith 1 February 2002 31 January 2006 No 
			 Member Catherine Johns 19 February 2003 18 February 2007 No 
		
	
	The National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside has changed its name to National Museums Liverpool. The Radio Authority was subsumed into the Office of Communications (Ofcom) on 29 December 2003 and the Chair alone remains to oversee residual work. The Secretary of State is not responsible for the membership of the Royal National Theatre, which makes its own appointments and can provide details.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who the members of the (a) Independent Television Commission, (b) Library and Information Commission, (c) Museum of Science and Industry, (d) National Film and Television School and (e) National Lottery Charities Board were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Richard Caborn: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			  Independent Television Commission  
			 Chair Sir Robin A. Biggam 29 December 2003 31 December 2008(17) Yes 
			  National Museum of Science and Industry  
			 Chair Right Hon. Lord Waldegrave of North Hill 1 July 2002 30 June 2006 No 
			 Trustee Martin Smith 25 August 1999 24 August 2004 No 
			 Trustee Professor Ann Dowling 25 August 1999 24 August 2004 No 
			 Trustee Gregory Dyke 3 October 2000 2 October 2005 No 
			 Trustee David Rayner 28 January 2002 27 January 2006 No 
			 Trustee Dr. Anne Grocock 8 March 2001 7 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee Professor Roderick Smith 23 April 2002 22 April 2006 No 
			 Trustee Richard Haythornthwaite 6 June 2002 5 June 2006 No 
			 Trustee Sir Ronald Cooke 6 June 2002 5 June 2006 No 
			 Trustee Dr. Simon Singh MBE 12 July 2002 11 July 2006 No 
			 Trustee Lord Puttnam of Queensgate CBE 12 September 2001 11 September 2006 No 
			 Trustee Sir William Wells 6 June 2003 5 June 2007 No 
			 Trustee Professor Sir Martin Rees 6 June 2003 5 June 2007 No 
			 Trustee Douglas Gurr 6 June 2003 5 June 2007 No 
			 Trustee Professor Kathy Sykes 10 October 2003 9 October 2007 No 
			 Trustee Dr. Maggie Semple OBE 10 October 2003 9 October 2007 No 
			  
			  National Lottery Commission  
			 Chair Moira Black CBE 16 October 2003 15 October 2004 Yes 
			 Commissioner Timothy Hornsby 26 March 2001 25 March 2004 Yes 
			 Commissioner Brian Pomeroy 16 October 2003 25 March 2004 Yes 
			 Commissioner Harriet Spicer 1 April 2003 31 March 2005 Yes 
			 Commissioner Josephine Valentine 17 September 2002 30 September 2005 Yes 
			  
			 The Community Fund 
			 Chair Lady Diana Brittan CBE 10 May 2002 9 May 2005 Yes 
			 Deputy Chairman Dame Valeric Strachan 26 July 2003 25 July 2004 Yes 
			 Member England Steven Burkeman 1 January 2004 31 July 2004 Yes 
			 Member England Elaine Appelbee 2 August 2001 1 August 2004 Yes 
			 Member England Richard Martineau 1 November 2001 2 November 2004 Yes 
			 Member N. Ireland James Kearney 25 July 2003 24 July 2004 Yes 
			 Member N. Ireland Sheila Jane Malley 1 January 2004 31 July 2004 Yes 
			 Member N. Ireland Paul Cavanagh 5 September 2001 4 September 2004 Yes 
			 Member Scotland Douglas Graham 26 July 2003 25 July 2004 Yes 
			 Member Scotland Kay Hampton 1 January 2001 31 December 2004 Yes 
			 Member UK Benjamin Whitaker CBE 28 July 2003 27 July 2004 Yes 
			 Member UK Carole Tongue 1 September 2002 31 August 2005 Yes 
			 Member Wales Elisabeth Watkins 1 January 2004 31 July 2004 Yes 
			 Member Wales Jeff Carroll 5 September 2001 6 September 2004 Yes 
			 Member Wales Taha Idris 1 April 2003 31 March 2006 Yes 
		
	
	(17) Or until wound up, if earlier.
	The Independent Television Commission was subsumed into the Office of Communications (OFCOM) on 29 December 2003; the Chair alone remains to deal with residual work. The Library and Information Commission has been replaced by Resource. The Secretary of State is not responsible for the membership of the National Film and Television School, which makes its own appointments and can provide details. The National Lottery Charities Board became the Community Fund in April 2001.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who the members of the (a) British Tourist Authority, (b) Crafts Council, (c) English Heritage, (d) English Tourist Board and (e) Horniman Museum were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Richard Caborn: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			 VisitBritain 
			 Chair Sir Michael Lickiss 1 April 2003 31 March 2005 Yes 
			 Trustee Kumar Muthalagappan 1 April 2003 28 February 2006 Yes 
			 Trustee Martin George 1 November 2003 31 October 2007 Yes 
			 Trustee Digby Jones 1 April 2003 31 March 2006 Yes 
			 Trustee Alan Parker 1 April 2003 31 March 2006 Yes 
			 Trustee Lady Cobham 7 April 2003 6 April 2006 Yes 
			  
			 English Heritage
			 Chair Sir Neil Cossons OBE 1 April 2000 31 March 2005 Yes 
			 Commissioner Gillian Drummond 1 April 2002 31 March2006 Yes 
			 Commissioner Michael Jolly CBE 1 October 2002 30 September 2006 Yes 
			 Commissioner Prof. David Cannadine 1 October 2001 30 September 2005 Yes 
			 Commissioner Piers Gough CBE 17 May 2003 16 May 2007 Yes 
			 Commissioner Manish Chande 1 September 2003 31 August 2007 Yes 
			 Commissioner Bill Bryson 1 September 2003 31 August 2007 Yes 
			 Commissioner Elizabeth Williamson 1 September 2003 31 August 2007 Yes 
			 Commissioner Jane Grenville 14 May 2001 13 May 2004 Yes 
			 Commissioner The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Leicester 21 January 2002 20 January 2006 Yes 
			 Commissioner Leslie Peter Sparks 14 May 2001 13 May 2004 Yes 
			 Deputy Chairman Andrew W. Fane 9 June 2001 8 June 2004 Yes 
			 Commissioner Richard Morris 16 July 2002 15 July 2005 Yes 
			 Commissioner Joyce Bridges 1 September 2003 31 August 2007 Yes 
			 Commissioner Maria Adebowale 1 September 2003 31 August 2007 Yes 
			 Commissioner Marquess of Douro 1 September 2003 31 August 2007 Yes 
			 Commissioner Michael Cairns 20 September 2003 19 September 2007 Yes 
			  England Marketing Advisory Board 
			 Chair Hugh Taylor 1 April 2003 31 March2005 Yes 
			 Trustee Brian Summers 1 May 2003 30 April 2006 Yes 
			 Trustee John Govett 1 May 2003 30 April 2006 Yes 
			 Trustee Suzanne Bond 1 May 2003 30 April 2006 Yes 
			 Trustee Tim Cantle-Jones 1 August 2003 31 July 2006 Yes 
			 Trustee Nicholas Cust 1 September 2003 31 August 2006 Yes 
			  
			  Horniman—Public Museum and Public Park Trust 
			 Chair Donald Kirkham CBE 23 September 1999 31 March2004 No 
			 Trustee Susan Minter 1 February 2000 31 January 2004 No 
			 Trustee Timothy Hornsby 18 July 2003 1 April 2004 No 
			 Trustee Michael Wheeler 18 September 2000 17 September 2004 No 
			 Trustee Prof. Kenneth J. Gregory 1 October 2001 30 September 2005 No 
			 Trustee John Mack 21 September 2002 20 September 2006 No 
			 Trustee Dame Jocelyn Barrow DBE 22 September 2003 21 September 2007 No 
			 Trustee Genie Turton 23 September 2003 22 September 2007 No 
		
	
	The British Tourist Authority became VisitBritain on 1 April 2003. The Secretary of State is not responsible for the membership of the Crafts Council, which makes its own appointments and can provide details. The English Tourism Council is now known as the England Marketing Advisory Board.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who the members of the (a) Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection, (b) Advisory Council on Libraries, (c) Architectural Heritage Fund, (d) Arts Council of England and (e) British Film Institute were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Richard Caborn: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			  Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection  
			 Chair Julia Somerville 3 September 2003 2 September 2007 No 
			 Member Margot Heller 3 August 2003 2 August 2007 No 
			 Member Dr. Richard Dorment 1 January 2003 31 December 2006 No 
			 Member Penelope Curtis 1 May 2003 30 April 2007 No 
			 Member Sarah Shalgosky 1 May 2003 30 April 2007 No 
			 Ex-officio Penny Johnson 1 June 1997  No 
			 Ex-officio Charles Saumarez-Smith 6 April 1999  No 
			 Ex-officio Sir Nicholas Serota 6 April 1999  No 
			 Ex-officio Alan Davey 1 September 2003  No 
			 Ex-officio Sandy Nairne 30 March 1999  No 
			  
			  Advisory Council on Libraries  
			 Chair William MacNaught 3 February 2003 2 February 2007 No 
			 Member Catherine Blanshard 3 February 2003 2 February 2005 No 
			 Member Martin Molloy 3 February 2003 2 February 2005 No 
			 Member Pamela Usher 3 February 2003 2 February 2005 No 
			 Member Keith Webster 3 February 2003 2 February 2005 No 
			 Member Jane Hall 3 February 2003 2 February 2005 No 
			 Member Patsy Heap 3 February 2003 2 February 2005 No 
			 Member Peter Marchant 3 February 2003 2 February 2005 No 
			  
			  Architectural Heritage Fund  
			 Chair Jane Sharman CBE 10 October 2002 9 October 2007 No 
			 Member Scotland George McNeill 1 January 2003 31 December 2007 No 
			 Member Wales John Pavitt 1 October 2003 30 September 2008 No 
			 Trustee Nicholas Baring 6 April 1999 31 March 2004 No 
			 Trustee Malcolm Crowder 6 April 1999 31 March 2004 No 
			 Trustee Merlin Waterson 8 November 1999 7 November 2004 No 
			 Trustee Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle 1 April 2000 31 March 2005 No 
			 Trustee Roger Wools 1 April 2002 31 March 2005 No 
			 Trustee Roy Dantzic 29 June 2001 31 March 2006 No 
			 Trustee William Cadell 9 October 2002 8 October 2007 No 
			 Trustee Robert Boas 26 March 2003 31 March 2008 No 
			 Trustee Colin Amery 30 April 2003 29 April 2008 No 
			  
			 Arts Council England 
			 Chair Gerry Robinson 1 February 2001 31 January 2004 No 
			 Member and Chair North West Tom Bloxham 1 June 2002 31 May 2006 Yes 
			 Member and Chair Northern Paul Collard 1 June 2002 31 May 2006 Yes 
			 Member and Chair East Midlands Stephen Lowe 1 June 2002 31 May 2004 Yes 
			 Member and Chair West Midlands Dorothy Wilson 1 June 2002 31 May 2005 Yes 
			 Member and Chair Eastern England Stuart Timperley 1 June 2002 31 May 2004 Yes 
			 Member and Chair London Sue Hollick 1 June 2002 31 May 2006 Yes 
			 Member and Chair South/South East Deborah Grubb 1 June 2002 31 May 2005 Yes 
			 Member and Chair South West Alan Livingston 1 June 2002 31 May 2006 Yes 
			 Member and Chair Yorkshire Norman Adsetts 1 June 2002 31 May 2004 Yes 
			 Member Deborah Bull CBE 1 June 2002 31 May 2005 No 
			 Member William Sieghart 1 June 2002 31 May 2006 No 
			 Member Elsie Owusu 1 June 2002 31 May 2005 No 
			 Member Brian McMaster 1 June 2002 31 May 2004 No 
		
	
	Members of the British Film Institute are appointed by the UK Film Council which can provide details of its membership.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who the members of (a) S4C and (b) the Treasure Valuation Committee were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated.

Richard Caborn: The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		S4C
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			 Chair Elan Closs Stephens CBE 1 April 2002 31 March 2006 Yes 
			 Members Carys Howell 1 January 2003 31 June 2006 Yes 
			 Member Cefin Campbell 1 May 2002 30 April 2004 Yes 
			 Member Christopher Llewellyn 1 November 2001 31 October 2005 Yes 
			 Member Eira Davies 1 November 2001 31 October 2005 Yes 
			 Member Nic Parry 1 May 2002 30 April 2004 Yes 
			 Member Enid Rowlands 1 April 2003 31 March 2007 Yes 
			 Member Dafydd Wigley 24 November 2003 23 November 2007 Yes 
			 Member Roger Jones 24 November 2003 23 November 2007 Yes 
		
	
	
		The Treasure Valuation Committee
		
			 Position Name Start date End date Remuneration 
		
		
			 Chair Prof. Norman Palmer 3 May 2001 2 May 2006 No 
			 Member Thomas Curtis 3 May 2001 2 May 2005 No 
			 Member Mary Sinclair 3 May 2001 2 May 2004 No 
			 Member Trevor Austin 19 December 2003 18 December 2007 No 
			 Member Dr. Arthur MacGregor 3 September 2001 2 September 2006 No 
			 Member Dr. Jack Ogden 1 April 2001 31 March 2006 No

CABINET OFFICE

Parliamentary Questions

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the guidance issued to civil servants responsible for drafting parliamentary answers.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office "Guidance to Officials on Drafting Answers to Parliamentary Questions" sets out the principles that civil servants should follow when preparing draft answers for parliamentary questions. The guidance was revised in September 2002 and re-issued to Departments.

HEALTH

Hospital-acquired Infections

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre of the Health Protection Agency has in place a mechanism for collecting the number of deaths associated with (a) bloodstream infections and (b) MRSA.

Melanie Johnson: The Health Protection Agency operates the national mandatory surveillance system for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections and this does not include information on deaths. Collecting data on deaths is not practical for routine reporting as aggregated data rather than individual patient data are collected. Currently mortality information can only be provided by enhanced surveillance or special studies.
	Death certificates are designed to identify the underlying cause of death rather than track healthcare associated infections (HCAIs). The new action plan to reduce healthcare associated infections, Winning Ways, includes a commitment to set up a national audit of deaths from HCAIs.

Health Screening (Overseas Visitors)

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish the review of policy regarding health screening for foreigners before they enter or are permitted to stay in this country.

Melanie Johnson: The Cabinet Office is continuing to co-ordinate work between relevant Government Departments, including the Department of Health, to review imported infections and immigration. The review aims to establish the facts about the impact of immigration on public health and national health service expenditure, consider all relevant issues including health screening and propose solutions should action be required. It is on-going and no decisions have been taken yet.

Monoclonal Antibody Drugs

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the monoclonal antibody drugs (a) Cetuximab and (b) Bevacizumab are not available through the NHS.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 30 January 2004
	Cetuximab and Bevacizumab are not currently on the United Kingdom market as they are not yet licensed as medicinal products in the UK or European Union.

EU Enlargement

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the impact of settlement in the UK of citizens of EU accession states on demand for NHS services in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06 financial years.

John Hutton: The impact on demand for national health service services will ultimately depend on the numbers of people who might migrate to the United Kingdom from the new member states. Research for the Home Office does not suggest that the numbers will be significant. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Citizenship and Immigration on 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 705W.

Stroke (Gloucestershire)

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether the stroke units in the NHS in Gloucestershire are large enough to accommodate all stroke victims in Gloucestershire needing hospitalisation; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: I have made no assessment because in line with our Shifting the Balance of Power policy it is now for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services, based on the specialised knowledge they have of the local community.
	I am assured by Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA that the national health service in Gloucestershire has developed the two specialist stroke units in line with national service framework guidance.
	The stroke service links with other services to enable appropriate lengths of stay within the unit to be supported. Patients have access to other support services including intermediate care to enable rehabilitation of people in their own homes or in community hospitals. As a result of service reconfiguration, the numbers of people accessing specialist stroke services have increased in the last year.

Higher Education Funding

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether courses attracting payment of tuition fees by the NHS will attract payment of top-up fees.

John Hutton: Existing contracts between strategic health authorities and higher education institutions for nursing, midwifery and allied health professional training, cover the full cost of that training, including tuition. The consultation document "Funding Learning and Development for the Healthcare Workforce" sets out our proposal for a national model contract. It is intended that this contract for national health service funded pre-registration courses, to be introduced from 1 April 2004, will specifically prohibit the charging of variable fees to students.
	In the case of medical and dental training, the NHS currently meets students' liability for a contribution to tuition fees for the later years of the course. There is as yet no clear indication from the higher education sector of the scope or scale of any increases that they may intend to make to these fees. The Department of Health will continue to monitor demand for, and take up of, places on courses in medicine and dentistry after the introduction of variable fees in 2006–07. It will consider, in consultation with the Department for Education and Skills, any measures it deems necessary to safeguard the supply, retention, diversity or quality of students on medical and dental training programmes, once the full implications of the introduction of variable tuition fees can be assessed.

TRANSPORT

Driving Instructors

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on changes to the rules governing advanced driving instructors.

David Jamieson: The periodic re-assessment of car driving instructors is already provided for in their registration scheme. We are going to use modern computer-based assessment to check that instructors have kept up to date with the modern syllabus for learning to drive and can demonstrate high levels of hazard perception skills.

Driving Instructors

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what research his Department has commissioned into the benefits of requiring driving instructors to be reassessed after 15 years;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Trade and Industry regarding the implications for driving instructors of a requirement to be reassessed after 15 years.

David Jamieson: The periodic re-assessment of driving instructors is already provided for in their registration scheme. The frequency of assessments varies according to the standard of the instructor. The higher the standard, the greater the interval until a further re-assessment takes place. Every instructor should have at least one assessment during their four-year period of registration. A research report published in 2000, recommended that the current method of periodic reassessments should be retained. The report made no recommendation that instructors should be reassessed at 15 year intervals. In the circumstances, we see no need to hold discussions with the Department of Trade and Industry.

Roads

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage change he predicts for road traffic volumes by 2010.

David Jamieson: Road traffic is forecast to grow by between 20 per cent. and 25 per cent. in England between 2000 and 2010.

Roads

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the factors other than speed which contribute to road traffic accidents.

David Jamieson: Contributory factors are assessed in a wide range of research projects including in-depth studies of particular accident types, on-the-spot accident investigation, and driver behaviour has been shown to be the key factor. A pilot scheme for assessment of contributory factors in road accidents has been used by some police forces alongside the national road casualty statistics reporting system since 1999.

Buses

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress with improving bus transport in urban areas.

Tony McNulty: The Government are working to improve bus services in urban areas in a number of ways. This includes the recent award of £19.6 million from the Urban Bus Challenge, full or provisional funding of £250 million for major bus schemes under the local transport settlement for 2004–05 and £20 million towards implementing real-time passenger information.

A21

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make a further announcement in respect of the A21 between Flimwell and Robertsbridge.

David Jamieson: holding answer 27 January 2004
	This is a particularly sensitive section of the A21 and it is important to find a solution to the traffic problems, which minimises any damage to the environment and to local communities. My officials now need to discuss the way forward with DEFRA colleagues to identify the right solution. I expect to make an announcement on the way forward when the discussions are completed.

Driving Tests

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the implications of re-testing drivers after (a) 10 and (b) 15 years;.
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of requiring drivers to pass a refresher test to retain their driving licence after (a) 10 and (b) 15 years.

David Jamieson: holding answer 29 January 2004
	We do not consider that the regular retesting of drivers would be a proportionate measure to deliver road safety benefits. We have made no estimate of the cost to public funds, but requiring all driving licence holders to undergo a periodic retest would be an onerous and expensive obligation, particularly since there is no evidence to suggest that road safety would be improved as a result. Most road accidents are caused by careless or inconsiderate driving, rather than a lack of skill.
	Courts already have powers to require those drivers who offend to undergo a driving test. Where a driver is guilty of a serious motoring offence, this involves an extended length driving test.

Regional Assemblies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which of his powers will be transferred to elected regional assemblies where they are introduced; and which body holds each of those powers.

Tony McNulty: The transport powers of elected regional assemblies were set out in the White Paper "Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions" (Cm5511).
	Elected regional assemblies will be given powers to make Rail Passenger Partnership grants, which is currently the responsibility of the Strategic Rail Authority. They will also be responsible for advising government on funding allocations for local transport, taking over functions currently exercised by regional government offices. In addition, elected regional assemblies will be responsible for a regional transport strategy, which is currently prepared by regional planning bodies and issued by the Secretary of State for planning as part of regional planning guidance.

Speed Cameras

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money was raised in fines from speed cameras in the last year for which records are available in (a) Essex and (b) the West Chelmsford constituency.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 January 2004
	In 2001–02 £3,524,120 in conditional offer fixed penalties was collected by the Essex Safety Camera Partnership which includes West Chelmsford, for which separate figures are not available.

Speed Cameras

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money raised in fines from speed cameras during the last year for which records are available, was spent in (a) Essex and (b) the West Chelmsford constituency.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 January 2004
	In 2001–02 £3,003,763 from conditional offer fixed penalties was passed to the Essex Safety Camera Partnership for the operation and administration of their safety cameras. The Essex Partnership includes West Chelmsford, for which separate figures are not available.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

European Convention on Contact

Tim Loughton: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Government intend to become a signatory to the European Convention on Contact.

Christopher Leslie: The Government are at present considering the results of their expert consultation on the Council of Europe Convention on Contact. Public consultation will take place in due course. A decision on signature will be made in the light of the consultation responses.

Family Law Act

Tim Loughton: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Government will implement section 11(4) of the Family Law Act 1996.

Christopher Leslie: On 16 January 2001 the Government announced that they had decided not to implement the provisions of Part II of the Family Law Act 1996, including section 11(4), and that the provisions would be repealed when a suitable legislative opportunity arose.

Land Registration

Paul Flynn: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the conclusion of the Law Commission's report, "Land Registration for the Twenty-First Century: A Conveyancing Revolution", concerning the remnants of feudalism in England and Wales.

David Lammy: The joint Law Commission and Land Registry report, "Land Registration for the Twenty-First Century: A Conveyancing Revolution", concluded that there was a strong case for creating a clear and comprehensive legislative framework for the holding of land by the Crown and the Royal Duchies, and in relation to their role when land is ownerless. The report also stated that the Commission and Land Registry could not see any good reason for the retention of the remaining aspects of feudalism in England and Wales.
	The Law Commission are now considering whether a proposed review of the remnants of feudalism in land law in England and Wales should form part of the Commission's 9th programme of law reform. The programme is expected to be published later this year.

Under Sheriffs

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what the implications of the Courts Act 2003 are for the remuneration of Under Sheriffs;
	(2)  what steps he has taken to make up shortfalls in Under Sheriffs' remuneration arising from changes introduced in the Courts Act 2003.

David Lammy: The Courts Act 2003 removes the link between responsibility for High Court Enforcement work and the ceremonial functions of the Shrievalty. The latter attracts no remuneration. The arrangements for remuneration for High Court Enforcement work are unchanged. Where Under Sheriffs do not seek or receive authorisation as High Court Enforcement Officers, they will no longer be obliged to undertake High Court Enforcement work, so the issues of remuneration, or any shortfall in remuneration do not arise.

TREASURY

Respiratory Diseases (Children)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children between five and 15 years died of respiratory-related diseases in each year since 2000.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 3 February 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many children aged between 5 and 15 years died of respiratory-related diseases in each year since 2000. (152555)
	The latest available data are for 2002. Figures for children aged 5 to 15 in England and Wales in the three years 2000 to 2002 are given in the table below.
	
		Deaths from diseases of the respiratory system,(18)England and Wales, 2000 to 2002(19)
		
			  Children aged between 5 and 15 years of age 
		
		
			 2000 62 
			 2001(20) 53 
			 2002(20) 67 
		
	
	(18) Selected using codes 460 to 519 from the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision for 2000 and codes J00-J99 from the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision for 2001 and 2002.
	(19) Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year.
	(20) The introduction of ICD-10 for coding cause of death in 2001 means that data for respiratory diseases from this year onwards are not completely comparable with data for earlier years. The data should therefore be interpreted with caution. For respiratory diseases the effect of the change in classification in 2001 is described in a report published in May 2002.*
	* Office for National Statistics. Results of the ICD-10 bridge coding study, England and Wales, 1999. Health Statistics Quarterly 14 (2002), 75–83.

Tax Credits

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the overpayment of tax credits, in particular to claimants who have overpayments being recovered from their awards at high rates.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue's Code of Practice 26, "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?", sets out the rules that the Inland Revenue follows when adjusting an award to recover an overpayment.

Teenage Pregnancies

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage pregnancies there were in each year since 2000.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 3 February 2004
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on how many teenage pregnancies there were in each year since 2000. (152516)
	The numbers of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales, in 2000 and 2001 (the latest year for which figures are available), are shown below. Figures shown are for conceptions to women aged under 18, because the target set by the Government Strategy on Teenage Pregnancy is for this age-group.
	
		
			 Year Number(21) Rate(22) 
		
		
			 2000 41,349 44.1 
			 2001 40,964 42.7 
		
	
	(21) 2001 figure provisional.
	(22) Rate per 1,000 women aged 15–17 based on population estimates as at September 2003.
	Provisional figures for the most recently available year were first published in Health Statistics Quarterly, the latest edition of which also shows provisional estimates for March quarter 2002. This publication is available in the libraries of both Houses. Provisional estimates for the calendar year 2002 will be published in Health Statistics Quarterly later this month.

Birth Rates

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many live births there were in each year since 2000.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Tim Loughton dated 3 February 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on the number of live births in each year since 2000.1 am replying in his absence. (152515)
	A table showing data for live births occurring in England and Wales and in the United Kingdom in 2000, 2001 and 2002 is provided in the following table. Figures for 2003 are not yet available.
	
		Live births occurring in England and Wales, and the United Kingdom, 2000–2002
		
			  2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 England and Wales 604,441 594,634 596,122 
			 United Kingdom 679,029 669,123 668,777 
		
	
	Annual figures for live births are routinely published in Births Statistics Series FM1 for England and Wales and in Annual Abstract of Statistics for the United Kingdom; provisional figures for the most recently available year are first published in Population Trends, the latest edition of which also shows figures for March and June quarters 2003. All three publications are available in the House of Commons Library.

Cancer/Coronary Death Rates

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest figures for the death rate from (a) cancer and (b) coronary heart disease are in (i) the Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) Tyne and Wear, (iv) the North East and (v) the UK; and what they were in 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Stephen Hepburn dated 3 February 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the latest figures for the death rate from (a) cancer and (b) coronary heart disease in (i) the Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) Tyne and Wear, (iv) the North East and (v) the UK; and what they were in 1997. I am replying in his absence. (152108)
	Figures for the Jarrow constituency are not available, as annual mid-year population estimates for Parliamentary Constituencies are not produced by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for the other areas are included in the following table.
	
		Death rates(23) from cancer and coronary heart disease(24) in South Tyneside metropolitan district, Tyne and Wear metropolitan county, North East Government Office Region and the United Kingdom(25) 1997 and 2002(26) -- Death rates per 100,000 population
		
			  1997 2002 
		
		
			 Cancer   
			 South Tyneside 225 226 
			 Tyne and Wear 245 229 
			 North East 235 216 
			 United Kingdom 203 189 
			  Coronary Heart Disease 
			 South Tyneside 210 138 
			 Tyne and Wear 191 146 
			 North East 197 149 
			 United Kingdom 163 128 
		
	
	(23) Rates per 100,000 population standardised to the European Standard Population.
	(24) The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for 1997, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2002. The codes used are listed as follows:
	Cancer (malignant neoplasms)—ICD-9 140–208; ICD-10 COO-C97;
	Coronary Heart Disease—ICD-9 410–414; ICD-10 120–125.
	(25) Usual residents of these areas.
	(26) Deaths occurring in each calendar year in England and Wales, and deaths registered in each calendar year in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Climate Change Levy

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue has been raised by the Climate Change Levy in each year since its introduction.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hamilton South (Mr. Tynan) on 29 January 2004 (Official Report), column 375. Revenue receipts from the Climate Change Levy are published monthly in Table 2.1D of ONS "Financial Statistics" and annually in Customs and Excise's Annual Report and Accounts. Both are available in the Library of the House.
	Annual and monthly figures are also available online at Customs' trade and statistics website: www.uktradeinfo.com in the Statistical Bulletins and Factsheets section.

Customs and Excise (Correspondence)

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 19 October 2003 concerning Mr. C. Silvester, PO Reference 5.09712/2003).

John Healey: holding answer 30 January 2004
	I have replied to a letter dated 19 November 2003 from the hon. Member concerning Mr. Silvester with this reference number.

Financial Services

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the Government has to remove stamp duty on the financial services sector.

Ruth Kelly: All aspects of the tax system are kept under review as part of the annual budget process.

Financial Services

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what initiatives are in place to assist the financial services industry to ensure probity and transparency in dealings with the public.

Ruth Kelly: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has statutory responsibility to promote public understanding of the financial system and to secure the right degree of protection for consumers. The FSA carries out Conduct of Business regulation of all firms doing investment business to ensure, for example, that the information firms provide to investors is clear, fair and not misleading.

Infant Mortality

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the infant mortality rate was in 2003.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 3 February 2004
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the infant mortality rate was in 2003. (152560)
	The most recent complete year for which infant mortality data is available is 2002, when the rate for England and Wales was 5.2 per 1,000 live births. This covers deaths to babies aged less than one year and excludes still-births.
	Annual figures for infant mortality in England and Wales are routinely published in the DH3 series 'Mortality Statistics: Childhood, infant and perinatal'. Provisional figures for the first two quarters of 2003 were first published in Health Statistics Quarterly number 20, Winter 2003 edition (Table 2.1). These publications are available in the libraries of both Houses.

Stamp Duty

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to reform Stamp Duty Land Tax on leases.

Ruth Kelly: All tax rates and thresholds are kept under review by the Chancellor and any changes are announced in the Budget.
	Following consultation last year, substantial changes were made to the Stamp Duty Land Tax charge on the rental element of new leases which will help all tenants and will be of special benefit to small and medium sized businesses.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Civil Servants (Disabilities)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in meeting targets for the proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in his Department.

Maria Eagle: Statistical information about senior civil servants with disabilities is available on the civil service statistics website at http://www.civil-service. gov.uk/statistics/documents/pdf/disability-oct03.pdf.
	This information is also available in the Library. The latest statistics show that at 1 April 2003, there were 12 disabled senior civil servants in the Department, 5.4 per cent. of the total.

Construction Site Accidents

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many serious accidents have been recorded on construction sites in the last 10 years.

Des Browne: The information in the table shows fatal and major injuries in construction reported to HSE under the RIDDOR Regulations during the period 1993–04 to 2002–03.
	
		
			  Workers Member of the public 
		
		
			 Fatal   
			 1993–94 91 6 
			 1994–95 83 5 
			 1995–96 79 3 
			 1996–97 90 3 
			 1997–98 80 6 
			 1998–99 65 3 
			 1999–2000 81 6 
			 2000–01 105 8 
			 2001–02 80 5 
			 2002–03(27) 71 5 
			   
			  Major/non-fatal injury 
			 1993–94 2,574 116 
			 1994–95 2,627 121 
			 1995–96 2,477 117 
			 1996–97 4,054 405 
			 1997–98 4,326 339 
			 1998–99 4,656 378 
			 1999–2000 4,749 403 
			 2000–01 4,708 316 
			 2001–02 4,595 381 
			 2002–03(27) 4,780 259 
		
	
	(27) The definition of a non-fatal injury to members of the public is different to that of workers.
	Notes:
	1. Non-fatal injury statistics from 1996–97 cannot be compared directly with earlier years due to the introduction of revised injury reporting requirements (RIDDOR95) in1996.
	2. The information available under RIDDOR 95 includes three categories of severity, fatal, defined major injuries and other injuries leading to more than three days absence (over-3-day). RIDDOR specifies serious injuries as (i) a list of major injury conditions for employees and self-employed people (ii) non-fatal injuries for members of the public, which cause a person to be taken from the site of the accident to hospital.
	3. Incidents reported are defined under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1985 and1995.
	4. Injury statistics are those reported to all enforcing authorities.
	5. Construction has been identified using Standard Industrial Classification 1992 division 45.
	6. The annual basis is the planning year from 1 April to 31 March.
	These and additional figures are available on the internet at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction.htm.

Disability and Carers Executive Agency

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to consult Scottish-based groups representing disabled people in setting-up the new Disability and Carers Executive Agency.

Maria Eagle: Plans for consulting with disability organisations about the agency proposals are in hand. The organisations already contacted by officials include UK disability organisations, some of whom, like the DRC, have a key presence in Scotland. As part of this process, officials have also written to Citizen's Advice Scotland.

Incapacity Benefit

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed Incapacity Benefit for financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03 in (i) the Perth constituency, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		New claims for IB/SDA in the periods shown
		
			  Scotland new claims IB/SDA Great Britain new claims IB/SDA 
		
		
			 April 2001 to March 2002 101,400 835,570 
			 April 2002 to March 2003 101,440 812,065 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	2. Incapacity benefit figures include national insurance credits only cases.
	3. Figures for Great Britain will include a small number of claimants resident overseas.
	4. Figures for Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Office and are not given here.
	5. Information regarding the number of claims made in Perth for the financial years requested is unavailable.
	Source:
	DWP Information Centre, 5 per cent. samples.
	
		Live IB/SDA claims in February 2002 and 2003
		
			  PerthIB/SDA ScotlandIB/SDA Great Britain IB/SDA 
		
		
			 February 2002 3,500 327,300 2,695,600 
			 February 2003 3,600 326,500 2,710,200 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. Incapacity benefit figures include national insurance credits only cases.
	3. Figures for Great Britain will include a small number of claimants resident overseas.
	4. Figures for Northern Ireland are a matter for the Northern Ireland Office and are not given here.
	Source:
	CDU 100 per cent. counts.

Northern Ireland Troubles

Harry Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the funding of victims work in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Great Britain will be continued after the end of the current funding in 2004.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	Since 1998, Government have committed more than£20 million for victim's initiatives. I am currently consulting on what will be the next phase of victim's policy and funding will be a consideration in that context.

Pension Credit

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls were made to the Pension Credit Helpline in each month since April, broken down by (a) calls classed as engaged, (b) calls answered within periods of 20 seconds and (c) length of calls in periods of 10 minutes.

Malcolm Wicks: The available information is shown in the table.
	
		Calls to pension credit application line—April to December 2003
		
			  Calls received by application line Calls receiving engaged tone or recorded message Calls answered within 30 seconds Average call duration (minutes:seconds) 
		
		
			 2003 
			 April 20,810 0 17,680 12:15 
			 May 32,750 10 32,730 12:03 
			 June 60,240 1,790 57,730 14:05 
			 July 118,220 3,050 112,010 13:09 
			 August 181,860 7,250 177,340 15:19 
			 September 427,900 18,540 352,280 11:27 
			 October 482,780 2,850 429,950 09:35 
			 November 318,280 990 302,400 08:56 
			 December 193,900 30 183,650 08:28 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Numbers of calls are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. The number of calls receiving the engaged tone or a recorded message was unusually high in September due to technical problems with the telephony at one particular site. The number of calls affected by these problems cannot be separated out.
	3. The number of calls received is a measure of the total number of calls from customers made to the application line number 0800 99 1234. The number of calls answered within 30 seconds is a measure of all calls answered in application line sites and excludes any calls abandoned by the customer.

Pension Service

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) research and (b) evaluation his Department has commissioned into customer service in the Pension Service since the relocation of pension work from local offices in the South East region to pension centres elsewhere; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Pension Service commissioned BMRB Social Research to conduct research on customers' experience of, attitudes towards and satisfaction with our service in its first year. The survey is an important demonstration of our commitment to understanding and responding to customer requirements and will assist in future service development.
	The survey findings are based on approximately 4,300 face-to-face interviews with a random sample of current pensioners, their representatives and future pensioners who had contact with The Pension Service during the first half of 2003. The findings are the first nationally representative assessment of how The Pension Service is delivering to its customers. The report will be published shortly.
	In addition, the Department has recently commissioned research to examine service delivery to older people with special needs and customers who represent older people.
	The Pension Service will introduce a national mystery shopping programme from April 2004. This will provide an independent, robust, and real time measure of our customer service delivery. It will drive improvement activity in areas of high importance to our customers.

Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the impact on his Department's budget of contracting the self-employed with immediate effect into the state second pension, in each of the next 20 years.

Malcolm Wicks: The following table shows the projected increase in expenditure on state second pension to pensioners, if all self-employed people with profits greater than the small earnings exception (and hence who are assumed to pay Class 2 contributions) accrue flat-rate state second pension, based on earnings at the lower earnings threshold, from April 2007 onwards. Costs are shown in £ billion, in 2003–04 prices terms, for the first 20 years in which there would be increased expenditure.
	
		Projected increase in expenditure on state second pension, if all self-employed with profits above the small earnings exception accrue flat-rate S2P from 2007–08 to 2003–04 price terms
		
			  Cost (£ billion) 
		
		
			 2008–09 0.0 
			 2009–10 0.0 
			 2010–11 0.0 
			 2011–12 0.0 
			 2012–13 0.1 
			 2013–14 0.1 
			 2014–15 0.1 
			 2015–16 0.1 
			 2016–17 0.2 
			 2017–18 0.2 
			 2018–19 0.3 
			 2019–20 0.3 
			 2020–21 0.4 
			 2021–22 0.5 
			 2022–23 0.6 
			 2023–24 0.7 
			 2024–25 0.8 
			 2025–26 0.9 
			 2026–27 1.0 
			 2027–28 1.1 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The projected increase in S2P expenditure to pensioners shown in the table does not allow for (a) offsetting savings in income-related benefits, or (b) increased expenditure on S2P paid alongside bereavement benefits to those below state pension age.
	2. The projected expenditure has been calculated on a consistent basis to that used for the projections in the Quinquennial Review of the National Insurance Fund as at April 2000 (Cm 6008), assuming real earnings growth of 2 per cent. a year. No allowance has been made for the effects of the most recent (2002-based) population projections, or any other information which has become available since the results underlying the Quinquennial Review were prepared.
	3. The projected expenditure relates to the GB National Insurance Fund (Northern Ireland has a separate Fund).
	4. It has been assumed that the self-employed would not be able to contract out of S2P.

Retirement Pension

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets exist for backdated awards of retirement pension; and how many such backdated pension awards there were in each month of the 12 months before the most recently available monthly figures.

Malcolm Wicks: Entitlement to the state pension is dependent on a claim being made for it and the amount is determined in accordance with the legislation. To aid the claim's process the Department sends out a claim pack to those approaching state pension age inviting them to make their claim. It is for the individual to decide whether or not to claim their state pension at state pension age. Some may choose to defer claiming for a variety of reasons, in which case they could get a higher amount of state pension when they do make their claim. It is therefore not appropriate for the Department to set a target.
	However, where a person chooses to make a claim after state pension age, his or her state pension can be awarded for up to three months prior to the date of claim subject to the entitlement conditions.
	The Department publicises the time limits for claiming state pension and the effects of not doing so on time.

Statutory Sick Pay

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people employed in his Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: Information for DSS and ES prior to April 2001 is not available.
	The information from April 2001 is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table. Further information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Number of staff claimed SSP 
		
		
			 2001–02 32,855 
			 2002–03 35,936 
			 2003–04 29,384 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures refer to individual members of staff, some of whom will have claimed SSP on more than one occasion.
	2. Figures for 2003–04 are for the year to 31 December 2003.

Winter Fuel Payment

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to extend the Winter Fuel Payment Scheme to people with severe disabilities.

Malcolm Wicks: Help is already available through disability benefits and the disability premium in Income Support in recognition of the extra costs, including heating, which disabled people may have. There are no plans to extend the Winter Fuel Payment Scheme to disabled people under age 60.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bribery

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many reports of concerns of bribery registered by UK companies about foreign competitors have been made by his Department to foreign governments; and to which governments.

Denis MacShane: To provide the information requested would involve a manual search of files that would incur disproportionate costs.

Burundi

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking, with reference to recent reports concerning those responsible, to assist the Burundian authorities to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime against humanity in which Charlotte Wilson was murdered; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: We continue to press the Burundi Government for a full investigation into Miss Wilson's murder and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. We have offered assistance to the Burundi authorities from the Metropolitan Police and have raised the case at every suitable opportunity.
	The current security situation and the functioning of the judicial system, as well as the current political climate, make investigations in Burundi very difficult. We are working hard with our international partners and those in the region to bring peace to Burundi. This will help create the conditions in which a thorough investigation can be made.
	We have offered Miss Wilson's family all the consular assistance we properly can and shall continue to do so.

Chechnya

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the meetings, their dates and the officials involved at which the issue of human rights abuses in Chechnya were raised by his Government with Russia (a) prior to 11 September 2001, and (b) since 11 September 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The breadth of UK-Russia bilateral relations are such that to provide detailed information on all meetings before and after September 2001 would involve disproportionate cost and in many cases would not be possible.
	The issue of Chechnya has been raised with the Russians at Prime Ministerial, ministerial and official level since September 2001. High-level bilateral meetings over last year included during Putin's State Visit in June, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (Mr. Rammell) meeting with the Russian ambassador in October, and during the Russian ambassador's separate meeting with the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Adviser in October. We have also supported the numerous EU statements since September 2001 on the human rights situation there. As the right hon. Gentlemen would expect, Chechnya also featured in our annual Human Rights talks with the Russians in 2001, 2002, 2003 and will no doubt be raised in this year's talks.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 15 December 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. A. Faqi;.
	(2)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 15 December 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. A. Faqi.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 27 January. I apologise for the delay.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter to him dated 15 December 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to M. Din.

Chris Mullin: The response to my right hon. Friend's letter of 15 December 2003 was delayed pending checks with the high commission in Islamabad. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 27 January.

Council of Europe

Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom and other member states were consulted by the Council of Europe over its decision to produce a hip-hop version of the European anthem; and what the (a) purpose and (b) cost of this production was.

Denis MacShane: holding answer 2 December 2003
	According to the Council of Europe, the purpose of this project was to provide music for different European events and ceremonies and as background music for radio and television programmes with a European theme.
	The United Kingdom Government was not consulted. I have been informed that the cost of producing the CD was Euro 7,000. If I had been consulted, I would have said that it was a waste of money.

General Affairs and External Relations Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcome was of the General Affairs and External Relations Council held on 26–27 January; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including their voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The information is as follows:
	Outcome of the 26 January 2004 General Affairs and External Relations Council
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I represented the UK at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on 26 January 2004. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for International Development represented the UK for the Orientation debate.
	Conclusions were agreed on the Orientation debate; Western Balkans; Georgia; Middle East Peace Process; Afghanistan; Colombia; European Security Strategy; and conflict prevention in Africa.
	General Affairs Session
	Debate on operational programme of Council activities for 2004
	The Council held a public debate on the annual operational programme, which the Irish and Dutch presidencies presented at the December GAERC. The programme aims to build on the work of the Greek and Italian presidencies from 2003. It covers the economic reform agenda, justice and home affairs, and external relations. The debate concentrated on implementation of the European Security Strategy and on conflict prevention in Africa.
	Progress of work in other Council configurations
	The presidency gave a standard progress report on work in other Councils. The report highlighted the results of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council; the Agriculture and Fisheries Council; the Environment Council; and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council. There was no discussion.
	MEPs Statutes
	The Council examined a draft Decision of the European Parliament on the Statute for Members of the European Parliament. In June 2003, the Council had indicated that it could not give its approval to an earlier draft of the Statute. In December the European Parliament proposed a number of amendments. The Council failed to reach the necessary qualified majority to agree the Statute. The presidency concluded that he would report this decision back to the EP.
	External Relations Session
	Orientation debate
	The Under-Secretary of State for International Development represented the UK for the annual discussion on the effectiveness of EU external action programmes. This year's discussion was structured around three headings (i) EU leadership in progressing development issues multilaterally, (ii) maximising effectiveness of EU external assistance, and (iii) meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Conclusions were agreed on a number of steps to improve the effectiveness of EU aid; including the introduction of more transparent resource allocation.
	Iran
	High Representative, Javier Solana, reported on his visit to Iran on 12–13 January. Ministers welcomed steps taken by Iran, in the nuclear area (particularly the signature and implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Non-proliferation Treaty) but underlined the need for Iran to comply fully with the IAEA Board of Governors' November Resolution. The Council agreed to return to the issue after the next report on Iran's nuclear programme by Mohammed El Baradei, the IAEA Director-General. There was also discussion on the current political situation.
	China
	In line with the mandate of the 12–13 European Council, the GAERC discussed the embargo on the sale of arms to China. It invited the Permanent Representatives Committee and the Political and Security Committee to look into the matter, with a view to returning to the issue later in the year.
	Georgia
	The presidency reported on the 25 January inauguration of President Saakashvili. High Representative Solana also gave a read out of his 14–15 January visit to Georgia. Conclusions were agreed which: provided for targeted assistance to Georgia, pressed for progress on economic reform and tackling corruption; and mandated the Commission to bring forward a recommendation on the relationship of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to the European Neighbourhood Initiative before the end of the Irish presidency.
	Middle East Peace Process
	The presidency reported on its recent talks in Israel and Egypt. There was discussion on possible ways forward to overcome the current deadlock. Short Conclusions were adopted on the recent Israel-Hizbollah agreement to exchange prisoners. The Council expressed the hope that this exchange would clear the way for the resolution of all remaining issues between Israel and Lebanon concerning prisoners.
	Western Balkans
	The Council adopted Conclusions on the 28 December Serbian parliamentary elections calling for the democratic parties to work together to ensure the early formation of a government committed to the reform agenda and to further progress towards EU membership. Conclusions also welcomed the successful launch of the EU police mission—PROXIMA—in Macedonia and the appointment of new EU Special Representative, Jesen-Peterson.
	The High Representative also notified Ministers of the death of Commissioner Sven Frederiksen, the head of EU Police Mission in Bosnia.
	Afghanistan
	High Representative Solana debriefed on his 14 January visit to Kabul. Conclusions were adopted welcoming the new constitution and calling for increased efforts to restore security ahead of the elections in the summer.
	AOB: Colombia
	Commissioner Patten gave a report of his recent visit to Colombia.

Immigration

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people entered the UK from (a) Venezuela, (b) Suriname and (c) Bolivia in the latest year for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
	The latest available information shows that a total of 27,900 Venezuelan nationals were admitted to the United Kingdom during 2002.
	I regret that is not possible to identify nationals of Suriname and Bolivia separately in our admission statistics.
	Data on passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom are published in the Command Paper 'Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002' (Cm6053), obtainable from the House Library, The Stationery Office and via the Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hobpubs1 .html

Intelligence Services

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will initiate a review of the operation of the secret intelligence services.

Jack Straw: I am satisfied that the work carried out by the Intelligence Services continues to be an essential tool in protecting the nation's security, for instance, in countering the risks posed by terrorists, international criminals and drug dealers, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
	Their work is underpinned by legislation, and subject to oversight by the Intelligence and Security Committee and by the Commissioners appointed under the Intelligence Services Act and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. These mechanisms serve to keep their work under continuing review.

Iraq

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria were used to select British companies to carry out reconstruction work in Iraq.

Mike O'Brien: There are several different organisations involved in Iraq's reconstruction. British companies have won contracts from a number of these, including the Department for International Development, the Development Fund for Iraq, the US Government and the United Nations. Each organisation has its own criteria for selecting companies. All have used competitive bidding or existing contracts for reconstruction work in Iraq.
	I will write to my hon. Friend with further details.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place a transcript of his interview on the Today Programme on 26 January on Iraq in the Library.

Jack Straw: Yes.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Special Intelligence Service has interviewed Iraqis who had worked in Saddam Hussein's programmes of weapons of mass destruction-related activities (a) prior to March 2003 and (b) since May 2003.

Jack Straw: It is not the Government's policy to comment on the operations of the Intelligence Services. The Security and Intelligence Agencies are not within the scope of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (Paragraph 6, Part 1).

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether evidence of nuclear weapons of mass destruction programme-related activities have been discovered in Iraq by the Iraq Survey Group since the statement to the United Nations Security Council on 27th January 2003 by Dr. Mohamed El-Baradei on the status of nuclear inspections in Iraq.

Denis MacShane: In his interim report of 2 October 2003, Dr. David Kay reported that the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) had uncovered evidence that a senior scientist at the Iraq Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Sa'id, had started work on several small and relatively unsophisticated research initiatives in 2000 that could be applied to nuclear weapons development, and which could have been useful in developing a weapons-relevant science base for the long-term.
	Dr. Kay also referred to uncovering evidence of a number of other steps taken by Iraq to preserve some technological capability from its earlier nuclear weapons programme. Iraqi scientists and senior government officials have told the ISG that Saddam Hussein remained firmly committed to acquiring nuclear weapons.
	The text of Dr. Kay's interim report can be found on the CIA internet website at www.cia.gov.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific steps have been taken by the Iraq Survey Group to follow up the unresolved disarmament issues in respect of (a) VX nerve agent, (b) thiodiglycol mustard gas precursor, (c) anthrax, (d) Al Samoud 2 rockets and (e) Al Fatah rockets presented to the United Nations Security Council by Dr. Hans Blix on 27 January 2003.

Denis MacShane: The Iraq Survey Group is continuing to search for any evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and programmes for their production. The Iraq Survey Group produced an interim report on its findings in October 2003.

NATO

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the military preparations for joining NATO of (a) Bulgaria, (b) Estonia, (c) Latvia, (d) Lithuania, (e) Romania, (f) Slovakia and (g) Slovenia; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: In making the decision to invite the seven countries to join the alliance, NATO evaluated their progress against the areas for reform set out under NATO's Membership Action Plan (MAP).
	All of the invitees have been in an intensive dialogue with NATO to establish what reforms were necessary in the political and economic, defence and intelligence, resource, security and legal fields. Agreed reform objectives set out in Annual National Plans (ANP) have been reviewed annually with NATO International Staff and Allies.
	The UK has provided considerable bilateral assistance to all of the countries and will continue to provide support once they have joined the alliance. This assistance will help to ensure that the invitee countries to NATO can continue their reform programmes and make an effective contribution to the alliance's military and political structures.

Nigeria

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Nigeria about (a) increases in Muslim fundamentalism in that country and (b) the potential for terrorism; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: We hold regular discussions with the Nigerian authorities at Federal and State level and with others in Nigeria, including religious leaders and NGOs on these issues. We keep developments under careful review.

Overseas Bribery and Corruption

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many reports of bribery and corruption overseas were received from diplomatic posts between November 1997 and February 2002.

Denis MacShane: To provide the information requested would involve a manual search of files which would incur disproportionate costs.

Overseas Bribery and Corruption

Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many allegations of overseas bribery involving UK companies his Department has received from the US Administration since February 1999; on what dates; and what action his Department took on each allegation.

Denis MacShane: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley) on 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 512W. We cannot comment on individual reports received in order not to prejudice criminal investigations.

Payments

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the payments in each financial year since 1999–2000 to (a) Uzbekistan, (b) Turkmenistan, (c) Kazakhstan, (d) Kyrgyzstan, (e) Pakistan, (f) Georgia and (g) Azerbaijan; what the purpose was of each payment; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: Thousands of payments have been made by Foreign and Commonwealth Office Posts and Departments to suppliers in these countries from the financial year 1999–2000 to date. To list all of these payments could be done only at a disproportionate cost.

Public Bodies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who the members of the (a) British Council, (b) Commonwealth Institute and (c) Westminster Foundation for Democracy were on 1 January; what their term of office is in each case; and what their remuneration is.

Chris Mullin: Both the British Council and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy are non-departmental public bodies for which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has responsibilities. The Commonwealth Institute is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. As an independent body, we do not have access to the terms of office of its Board members.
	
		British Council Board: List of Members as of 1January 2004
		
			  Appointed Retires Remuneration (£) 
		
		
			 Baroness Helena Kennedy QC Chair August 1998 31 July 2004 (28)35,000 pa 
			 Gerard Lemos CMG Deputy Chair February 1999 D/Chair 1 December 2003 December 2006 — 
			 Zeinab Badawi 1 December 2003 1 December 2006 — 
			 Catherine Eva April 2001 September 2004 — 
			 Charles Grant October 2002 October 2005 — 
			 Richard Haythornthwaite May 2002 May 2005 — 
			 Sir Michael Jay KCMG January 2002 ex-officio — 
			 Jude Kelly QBE October 2002 October 2005 — 
			 Professor Lord May of Oxford OM AC Kt PRS December 2001 December 2006 — 
			 Professor Tim O'Shea BSc. PhD. September 2003 September 2006 — 
			 Heather Rabbatts CBE February 1998 February 2004 — 
			 Sir Robert Smith MP April 2002 April 2005 — 
		
	
	(28) This payment will be discontinued after 31 July 2004. The new Chair, yet to be appointed will not be remunerated.
	
		Westminster Foundation for Democracy: List of members as of 1January 2004
		
			  Appointed Retires(29) Remuneration 
		
		
			 Michael Aaronson 19 October 2001 October 2004 Reimbursed expenses 
			 James Arbuthnot MP 23 January 2004 January 2007 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Georgina Ashworth 22 May 1998 August 2004 Reimbursed expenses 
			 James Bewsher 19 November 2003 November 2006 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Frances D'Souza 8 July 2000 July 2006 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Michael Gapes MP, Chair 20 August 2002 August 2005 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Nik Gowing 25 June 1996 May 2005 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Mary Kaldor 7 July 1997 June 2006 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Elfyn Llwyd MP 24 August 2001 August 2004 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Michael Moore MP 31 January 2002 January 2005 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Patrick Smith 19 October 2001 October 2004 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Richard Spring MP 14 June 2000 June 06 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Gisela Stuart MP 5 December 2001 December 2004 Reimbursed expenses 
			 Michael Trend MP 30 June 1999 August 2005 Reimbursed expenses 
		
	
	(29) WFD Governors are permitted to serve a maximum of 3 x 3 year terms. Date shown is end of current term.
	Commonwealth Institute
	List of members of the Board of Trustees as of 1 January 2004
	Ms Judith Hanratty, Chair
	The Lord Fellowes, Vice Chair
	The right hon. Donald McKinnon, Commonwealth Secretary-General
	Mr. Algy Cluff
	Mrs. Helen Robinson
	The High Commissioners to the United Kingdom of Nigeria, Malta, Tanzania and New Zealand

Sri Lanka

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the six-month pilot scheme under which visa applicants in Sri Lanka were required to provide fingerprints; and if he will publish the findings of the research.

Chris Mullin: My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Citizenship, Immigration and Counter-Terrorism at the Home Office (Beverly Hughes) will be writing to Members of the Seventh Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation about the six-month trial in Colombo and will be placing a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the security situation around Juba, Sudan; and what discussions he has had with the Sudanese Government about the situation.

Chris Mullin: We have no particular concerns about the security situation around Juba. Juba has not come up in our recent discussions with the Sudanese Government of the security situation in Sudan.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the advice he is offering to British companies which are either involved or intend to become involved in the oil industry in the Sudan.

Chris Mullin: The British embassy in Khartoum receives inquiries from British companies in many sectors, including oil, who are interested in becoming involved in business in Sudan. In response to their requests the embassy has provided briefing on the commercial, political and security situation. In addition to briefings it has on occasion provided security advice to companies interested in operating outside Khartoum.

UN Corruption Convention

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what measures the Government are taking to ensure that the UK will be able to meet its commitments under the UN Convention on Corruption;
	(2)  when the UK Government will ratify the UN Convention on Corruption.

Denis MacShane: Government officials from, in particular, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office and the Department for International Development are working to ensure that the UK is in a position to meet its obligations under the UN Convention Against Corruption. Once we have ensured that UK legislation and administrative arrangements satisfy these obligations, the UK Government will seek to ratify the Convention at the earliest opportunity.

UN General Assembly Resolutions

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what policy considerations dictated the UK's vote against UN General Assembly resolution 58/51, Towards a Nuclear Weapon-Free World; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: Government policy on nuclear weapons remains as set out in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review and the 2003 Defence White Paper. We are committed to working towards a safer world in which there is no requirement for nuclear weapons and continue to play a full role in international efforts to strengthen arms control and prevent the proliferation of nuclear—as well as chemical and biological—weapons.
	Resolution 58/51, Towards a Nuclear Weapon-Free World, has been tabled over several years and contains many important elements that we support. However, as we explained in our Explanation of Vote, the text presented to UNGA 58 contained several elements that were inconsistent with the consensus reached at the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. The UK remains committed to the NPT, which we regard as the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation and disarmament regime.

UN General Assembly Resolutions

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the UK is taking in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 58/36, on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The UK traditionally votes in favour of an annual UN 1st Committee Resolution on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS).
	We have signed and ratified the Outer Space Treaty that places important constraints on the basing of weapons in space, including a prohibition on the deployment of weapons of mass destruction. However, we derive considerable military and security benefits from the use of space, and would not like to see a general prohibition on the military use of space.
	In addition, we support agreement of a programme of work at the Conference of Disarmament (CD) in Geneva, which includes issues relating to PAROS. We also participated in a recent informal seminar on PAROS at the CD.

Visa Applicants (Fingerprinting)

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the estimated cost is of extending the fingerprinting of visa applicants announced on 21 January.

Chris Mullin: The cost of introducing fingerprinting in our visa sections in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda is estimated at £325,000 for the current financial year and £410,000 for the 2004–05 financial year. Costs are being met from the budget allocated to the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The costs will include initial start-up expenses such as procurement and deployment of equipment, IT development, additional staff and accommodation changes. Running costs thereafter are estimated at £117,000 per year.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Affordable Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many units of affordable housing for (a) rent and (b) sale were built with funding generated by recycled capital grant in (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03, broken down by Government Office Region.

Keith Hill: The total number of affordable housing dwellings built with recycled capital grant in England for 2001–02 and 2002–03 are as follows:
	
		
			  Rent Sale 
		
		
			 2001–02 555 234 
			 2002–03(30) 365 418 
		
	
	(30) Subject to validation
	Information on the split of these dwellings by region is being collated. I will write to the hon. Member and make a copy available in the Library of the House.
	In addition, Registered Social Landlords built affordable housing dwellings by combining recycled grant with new social housing grant from local authorities or the Housing Corporation. Dwellings produced in this way are not counted in the table and appear in the record of dwellings produced through the Approved Development Programme or the former local authorities' social housing grant programmes.
	As well as building additional affordable housing, registered social landlords recycled grant into major repair and improvement of their older, existing housing.

Area-based Initiative Budget

Mr. Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the budget was for each area-based initiative for (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04, broken down by English region; and what the total budget was for each region in each year.

Nick Raynsford: The allocations issued to area-based initiatives totalled by region for the years sought are tabled as follows.
	
		£ million
		
			 Region Coalfields(31) Community chests(31) European Regional Development Fund Areas Housing market Renewal Pathfinders(31) Liveability(32) 
		
		
			 2002–03  
			 North East 2.6 2.17 20.34 2.64 0.0 
			 North West 1.1 3.85 57.31 10.56 0.0 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 5.3 1.95 40.68 5.28 0.0 
			 East Midlands 4.2 1.06 11.09 0.0 0.0 
			 West Midlands 1.6 1.66 24.04 5.28 0.0 
			 East of England 0.0 0.22 5.55 0.0 0.0 
			 London 0.0 3.20 7.40 0.0 0.0 
			 South East 0.2 0.40 1.85 0.0 0.0 
			 South West 0.0 0.47 16.64 0.0 0.0 
			 Total 15.0 14.98 184.90 23.76 0.0 
		
	
	
		
			  Neighbourhood Management(31) Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Neighbourhood Wardens/Street Wardens(31) New Deal for Communities Total allocation 
		
		
			 North East 1.9 39.73 1.2 25.27 95.85 
			 North West 2.3 81.18 3.5 26.60 186.40 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1.5 45.48 2.05 23.67 125.91 
			 East Midlands 1.3 19.51 1.2 14.86 53.22 
			 West Midlands 0.9 40.51 0 18.27 92.26 
			 East of England 0.4 2.64 1.3 15.05 25.16 
			 London 1.03 61.60 4.6 9.18 87.01 
			 South East 0.60 3.24 1.9 11.17 19.36 
			 South West 1.07 6.11 1.5 41.93 67.72 
			 Total 11.00 300.00 17.25 186.00  
		
	
	(31) For some programmes not all of the budget has yet been allocated to individual initiatives.
	(32) Figures for 2003–04 are for the provisional allocations as agreements have not yet been completed.
	
		£ million
		
			 Region Coalfields(33) Community chests(33) European Regional Development Fund Areas Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders(33) Liveability(34) 
		
		
			 2003–04  
			 North East 2.8 3.55 24.5 4.0 0.7 
			 North West 1.4 6.49 71.7 28.0 0.8 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 6.0 3.36 52.0 4.0 0.8 
			 East Midlands 4.8 1.79 14.5 0.0 0.8 
			 West Midlands 1.8 2.89 29.9 8.0 0.8 
			 East of England 0.0 0.34 6.0 0.0 0.7 
			 London 0.0 5.3 9.6 0.0 0.8 
			 South East 0.2 0.58 1.5 0.0 0.8 
			 South West 0.0 0.73 19.2 0.0 0.8 
			 Total 17.0 25.03 228.9 44.0 7.0 
		
	
	
		
			  Neighbourhood Management(33) Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Neighbourhood Wardens/Street Wardens(33) New Deal for Communities Total allocation 
		
		
			 North East 2.57 52.97 1.25 31.21 123.55 
			 North West 1.71 108.20 2.76 52.50 273.56 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 2.52 60.63 1.84 30.06 161.21 
			 East Midlands 1.73 26.00 0.52 24.22 74.36 
			 West Midlands 1.61 53.98 1.38 30.53 130.89 
			 East of England 1.15 3.50 0.91 9.60 22.20 
			 London 0.85 82.04 2.88 62.79 164.26 
			 South East 0.88 4.56 1.26 13.27 23.05 
			 South West 0.73 8.12 0.92 10.82 41.32 
			 Total 13.75 400.00 13.72 265.00  
		
	
	(33) For some programmes not all of the budget has yet been allocated to individual initiatives.
	(34) Figures for 2003–04 are for the provisional allocations as agreements have not yet been completed.
	Single Regeneration Budget
	In 2001, the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) was subsumed into the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) Single Programme ('Single Pot') from which RDAs will continue to fund existing SRB commitments. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's contribution to the RDAs Single Pot is £4,679 million for 2003–06 and £1,523.7 million for 2003–04.
	Urban Regeneration Companies (URCs)
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not directly fund URCs as funding is channelled through non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and other delivery agents.

Brownfield Land

Howard Flight: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Government's commitment to develop brownfield land.

Keith Hill: The Government want to make the best use of disused brownfield land in and around our towns and cities. This will help to ease pressures on the countryside and avoid urban sprawl. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister wants to create more welcoming and attractive places in which people can take pride. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working closely with English Partnerships to develop a national strategy for brownfield land. English Partnerships has published the results of the first stage of work on the strategy, which provides a better understanding of what land is available. Through English Partnerships and the Regional Development Agencies we are remediating brownfield land at a rate of over 1,400 hectares a year.

Council Tax

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many applications have been made under section 76 of the Local Government Act 2003 for reductions or variations in the level of council tax payable, broken down by local authority.

Nick Raynsford: None. Local authorities do not need to make applications to the Government in order to use the power in section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as inserted by section 76 of the Local Government Act 2003. It is up to local billing authorities to decide whether to use this new provision and to assure themselves that what they are proposing is within their powers.

Cumbria County Council

Jack Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Government grant for Cumbria county council was in (a) 1996–97, (b) 2002–03 and (c) 2003–04; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: Formula Grant comprises Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates. Allocations to Cumbria county council were:
	(a) £229.1 million
	(b) £269.5 million
	(c) £293.7 million
	The amounts are not strictly comparable because of changes in council functions between years.

Local Government Finance

Anne Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage increase in grant would be necessary to bring Cambridgeshire county council up to the full Formula Spending Share for 2004–05.

Nick Raynsford: Formula Spending Shares (FSS) and Formula Grant are not strictly comparable as FSS includes an element of assumed council tax and the grant distribution system uses floors and ceilings on grant changes as well as FSS. However, Cambridgeshire would have received 3.87 per cent. more grant in 2004–05 had floors and ceilings not applied.

Market Renewal Pathfinder Budget

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the budget was for each market renewal pathfinder scheme for (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04, broken down by (i) English region and (ii) pathfinder area.

Nick Raynsford: Over the financial year 2002–03 and 2003–04, there has been a budget of £2.66 million for each pathfinder for preparation of a strategic scheme and where considered appropriate by them some early action projects.
	For 2003–04 to 2005–06, a market renewal fund of £500 million has been created for the nine pathfinders. So far for 2003–04, Birmingham Sandwell, East Lancashire, Oldham and Rochdale, Merseyside, NewcastleGateshead, North Staffordshire and South Yorkshire have been allocated £4 million to begin action on the ground ahead of scheme agreement.
	Manchester Salford is the first pathfinder to complete and agree their strategic scheme. They have been awarded £125 million over the next two-and-a-half years to implement their scheme. Merseyside has recently been awarded £86 million and NewcastleGateshead £69 million. Three other pathfinders have submitted their scheme to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister—East Lancashire, Oldham Rochdale and South Yorkshire—these are currently being assessed and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects to announce allocations later this year.
	The table summarises funding allocations thus far for 2002–03 and 2003–04 by pathfinder and English region. The figures for Manchester Salford, NewcastleGateshead and Merseyside show funding up until March 2006.
	
		£ million
		
			 Region/pathfinder Total funding for pathfinder Total funding for region 
		
		
			 North West   
			 Manchester Salford 127.66  
			 Merseyside 92.66 233.64  
			 East Lancashire 6.66  
			 Oldham Rochdale 6.66  
			
			 North East   
			 Newcastle Gateshead 75.66 75.66 
			
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 
			 South Yorkshire 6.66 9.32  
			 Hull and East Riding 2.66  
			 West Midlands   
			 Birmingham Sandwell 6.66 13.32  
			 North Staffordshire 6.66

Rural Land Use

Howard Flight: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the concept of temporary development which applies to minerals and landfill operations with a restoration condition will remain unchanged by the Draft Planning Policy Statement Number 7—Sustainable Development in Rural Areas.

Keith Hill: In September 2003 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a public consultation draft of a new Planning Policy Statement (PPS7), Sustainable Development in Rural Areas. The draft sets out proposed national planning policies to deliver sustainable rural communities by focussing most new development on towns and villages, and through strict control over new development in the open countryside. PPS7 does not propose any changes to the established definition of previously-developed land which excludes land used for mineral extraction and waste disposal where provision for restoration has been made through development control procedures.

Rural Land Use

Howard Flight: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether land and buildings within the rural land use classification are prima facie protected from development.

Keith Hill: National planning policies for rural areas are principally set out in Planning Policy Guidance 7 (PPG7), "The Countryside—Environmental Quality and Economic and Social Development". This guidance is not based on a rural land use classification. PPG7 advises that building in the open countryside, away from existing settlements or areas allocated for development, should be strictly controlled. Further restrictions on development in Green Belts are set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 2.
	It is for the local planning authority in the first instance to determine planning applications for the development of land and buildings in accordance with policies in an adopted development plan for the area, and with regard to national and regional planning guidance.
	In September 2003 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a public consultation draft of a new Planning Policy Statement (PPS7), "Sustainable Development in Rural Areas". The draft sets out proposed national planning policies to deliver sustainable rural communities by focussing most new development on towns and villages, and through strict control over new development in the open countryside.

Social Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2004, Official Report, column 1464W, which column of the table includes units built or acquired by registered social landlords with recycled capital grant.

Keith Hill: Dwellings built or acquired by registered social landlords using recycled capital grant funding are included in column A of the table produced on the 22 January 2004, Official Report, column 1464W.

Thames Gateway

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have for the adoption of standards for access to (a) schools, (b) healthcare facilities, (c) leisure facilities, (d) open spaces, (e) shops and (f) new jobs in the communities that are planned in the Thames Gateway, Essex area.

Keith Hill: For the Thames Gateway Essex area and elsewhere, Government planning policy (in particular Planning Policy Guidance 13) is to promote accessibility to jobs, shopping, leisure facilities and services by public transport, walking and cycling.
	In addition, the Social Exclusion Unit's "Making the Connections" report, published in February 2003, sets out a strategy to help people on low incomes access work, food shops and key public services, notably education and healthcare. This includes the approach of accessibility planning in those areas that produce a Local Transport Plan, where local transport planners and others work together to examine accessibility needs and how to overcome barriers. Accessibility planning is currently being piloted and various accessibility indicators are under consideration.

Thames Gateway

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how he will ensure that new housing development in the Thames Gateway, Essex area will meet (a) flood resistance standards sufficient for the Association of British Insurers and (b) high standards of design.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recognises the importance of ensuring that new housing development in the Thames Gateway meets flood resistance standards. All new housing is subject to compliance with Planning Policy Guidance Note 25 on 'Development and Flood Risk'. Furthermore, projects that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is funding in the Thames Gateway are required to undertake an appropriate Flood Risk Assessment and consult with the Environment Agency where there is a potential risk of flooding. Officials in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are also meeting with the Association of British Insurers to discuss flood management issues.
	To ensure that new housing development meets high standards of design, Planning Policy Guidance Note 1 on 'General Policy and Principles' requires that "good design should be the aim of all those involved in the development process and should be encouraged everywhere". This policy is supported by our good practice guidance 'By Design'. Projects that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is funding in the Thames Gateway have been selected against thematic objectives, one of which is "to implement a consistent policy of quality design". The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also increased funding for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), who are launching the Growth Areas Housing Quality Forum in March 2004 to disseminate best practice. Furthermore, the Building for Life award has been developed by CABE, the House Builders Federation and the Civic Trust to reward development that incorporates high standards of design.

Thames Gateway

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether the Thames Gateway area of Canvey Island will receive additional road access before the new housing development planned by the Thames Gateway initiative is completed;
	(2)  if he will instruct the Thames Gateway initiative to carry out a feasibility study on the provision of a new terminus station for Canvey Island.

Keith Hill: The East of England Local Government Conference, the regional planning body that has jurisdiction for the Borough of Castle Point, is currently preparing a new Regional Planning Guidance for the East of England (RPG14). This will cover growth proposals for the local authority areas in South Essex with respect to housing and jobs. It will also provide commentary on the sub-region's transport infrastructure.
	It is therefore open to partners to make representations for improved access to Canvey Island through the Regional Planning process, alongside the identification of locations where development should be supported within the region.

Thames Gateway

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what investigations the Thames Gateway Initiative has carried out into the (a) numbers of vehicle movements (i) on to and (ii) off Canvey Island and (b) road capacity for access to the Island;
	(2)  what investigations the Thames Gateway Initiative has carried out into the (a) number of rail passengers originating from Canvey Island and (b) the capacity of the rail infrastructure.

Keith Hill: The Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership that I chair has not undertaken any investigation of the number of vehicle movements to and from Canvey Island, nor the capacity of roads that provide access to and from the Island.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has contributed to the London to Southend Movement Study, commissioned in 2003 by the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership. The outcome of this study has yet to be published.

Thames Gateway

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many planning applications for (a) housing and (b) mixed use development in the Thames Gateway, Essex area have been refused since March 2000 on the grounds of poor design.

Keith Hill: Information relating to the number of planning applications refused in the Thames Gateway since March 2000 on grounds of poor design is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All Local Planning Authorities within the Thames Gateway and elsewhere, are statutorily obliged to keep information relating to the status of individual planning applications within their area of operation.

Thames Gateway

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average residential density was of housing developments given planning permission since March 2000 in areas of south Essex which fall within the Thames Gateway.

Keith Hill: Information relating to the average residential density of housing developments given planning permission in the south Essex Thames Gateway area since March 2000 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All Local Planning Authorities within the Thames Gateway and elsewhere, are obliged to keep information relating to the determination of planning applications within their area of operation.

Thistle Hill Development

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what infrastructure plan has been agreed between Government agencies in relation to additional homes on the Thistle Hill development agreed by the Planning Inspector.

Keith Hill: The Thistle Hill housing scheme, which is expected to yield approximately 1,000 dwellings, already had planning permission, granted by Swale borough council, but was limited to 340 houses before the new Swale Bridge was opened. The appeal decision made by the inspector on 15 January allows a further 85 houses per year to be built before the bridge opens, up to a maximum of 540.
	The contract for the new bridge is expected to be awarded shortly and it should be completed by summer of 2006. The consent for the Thistle Hill scheme requires the applicant to provide contributions for education, including a site for a new school, and various transport improvements including improvements to the nearby Cowstead Corner Roundabout.
	The Isle of Sheppey is an important part of the Thames Gateway growth area and the MISC 22 cabinet committee are looking at the broader implications of infrastructure provision across the whole Thames Gateway area. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is aware of the existing infrastructure problems on the island, particularly in education and primary health care, and these are being addressed by the relevant agencies.

Trafford Council

Graham Brady: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 19 January 2004, Official Report, column 1097W, which specific (a) areas and (b) departments of Trafford council were identified as being in need of improvement during the improvement planning process orchestrated by the Audit Commission; and if he will provide details of the programme of follow-up inspections.

Nick Raynsford: Details of the improvement priorities for Trafford metropolitan borough council and the programme of follow-up inspections established as a result of the improvement planning process are tabled as follows. The Audit Commission's website lists this information for all single tier and county councils (http://www. audit-commission.gov.uk/cpa/performance planning/ImprovementPlanninglsifData.asp). Further details are included in Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council's Best Value Performance Plan.
	
		
			 Authority Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council CPA score weak 
			 Council's ImprovementPriorities Title or focus of proposedAudit or Inspection activity Outline scope of proposedAudit or Inspection activity Proposed timetable for audit,inspection and other activity(if known) Output of proposed Audit or Inspection activity Organisation(s) undertaking the audit and/or the inspection activity 
			From To   
		
		
			 Strengthening Corporate and strategic planning Corporate Service and Financial Planning To assess development of corporate service and financial planning as part of Best Value Performance Plan audit July 2003 November 2003 Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Strengthening Corporate and strategic planning Corporate Service and Financial Planning To assess development of medium term financial strategy January 2004 April 2004 Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Strengthening corporate performance improvement and management Performance Management Assess improvement in Performance Indicator collection and development of performance monitoring systems July 2003 November 2003 Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Strengthening Human Resources and finance support to the Organisation Development of Financial Management Assessment of the effectiveness of the integrated business units including financial management schemes of delegation, human resources management and E-government arrangements To be agreed To be agreed Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Strengthening financial and performance improvement monitoring systems Information Technology and E-government arrangements Assurance review of new information systems implementation Ongoing Ongoing Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Strengthening financial and performance improvement monitoring systems Information Technology and E-government arrangements Inspection of Information Technology and E-government Best Value Review May 2003 July 2003 InspectionReport Audit Commission  
			 Improving the effectiveness of partnership working Effectiveness of partnership working Assessment of partnership working and delivery of outcomes focussing on Local Strategic Partnership September 2003 December 2003 Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Improving the effectiveness of partnership working Effectiveness of partnership working Assurance review of post contract arrangement for: Leisure Trust, Learning disabilities partnership To be agreed To be agreed Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Improving the effectiveness of partnership working Effectiveness of partnership working Continuing assessment of development of Children and Young People's company Ongoing Ongoing Audit Report,Guidance Social ServicesInspectorate,Ofsted and AuditCommission 
			 Transforming the way we support and work with young people and children Focus on various aspects of support for children and young people Performance audit to monitor the implementation of change in social services provision for children in care from: residential to home care and responsive to preventative services June 2003 October 2003 Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Transforming the way we support and work with young people and children Focus on various aspects of support for children and young people Performance audit to review the statement program for children May 2003 August 2003 Internal Report Audit Commission 
			 Transforming the way we support and work with older people Inspection of Older People's Services Social Services Inspectorate inspection of older people services including Best Value Review October 2003 November 2003 InspectionReport Social ServicesInspectorate 
			 Transforming the way we support and work with older people Focus on various aspects of support for older people Performance audit of delayed discharge arrangements including associated health bodies June 2003 August 2003 Audit Report Audit Commission 
			 Transforming the way we care for and manage places where people live and the way we work through area planning Focus on care of the environment Upstream inspection work on-waste Best Value Review including links to street scene Best Value Review May 2003 July 2003 Internal Report Audit Commission 
			 Transforming the way we care for and manage the places where people live and the way we work through area planning Focus on care of the environment Upstream inspection work on—area regeneration Best Value Review July 2003 September 2003 Internal Report Audit CommissionInspection

NORTHERN IRELAND

Broadband

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his latest estimate is of the level of broadband coverage in (a) North Down and (b) Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: Based on analysis of information obtained from the public domain, industry sources and service providers, it can be estimated that broadband services aimed at small and medium enterprises and residential users are available to approximately 70 per cent. of households and business sites across Northern Ireland. Figures for North Down are not available. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is actively pursuing the availability of equitable broadband services to 100 per cent. of businesses and households by the end of 2005.

Car Documentation

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his latest assessment is of the number of car owners driving in Northern Ireland without valid (a) car tax, (b) insurance, (c) MOT certification and (d) driving licence; and what steps he is taking to reduce these figures.

Angela Smith: The information is as follows:
	(a) The most recent detailed survey on vehicle excise duty evasion, undertaken in mid-2002, indicated that there were 74,700 unlicensed vehicles in the private and light goods (cars and vans) tax categories.
	(b) No detailed information is held on the number of car drivers without valid insurance, but a report produced by the PSNI concerning 107 unlicensed vehicles, under operation Nemesis, in October 2002 indicated that 80 per cent. were also evading insurance requirements. The Association of British Insurers, 51 Gresham Street, London, EC2B 7HQ may have more detailed information on uninsured drivers.
	(c) An analysis of data collected in 2002 estimated that 28 per cent. of vehicles of MOT age did not have valid MOT certificates at the date of sighting. This would equate to approximately 150,000 vehicles.
	(d) No information is held on the number of car owners driving without a valid driving licence.
	A range of measures are in place to reduce vehicle excise duty evasion and indirectly insurance and MOT evasion as valid insurance and MOT documents have to be produced at re-licensing. These include on-going detection by the PSNI and traffic wardens, wheel-clamping, detection by Automated Number Plate Reading cameras, Statutory Off Road Notification, and from 1 January 2004, the introduction of Continuous Registration, which allows detection from the vehicle record. There are also special joint exercises involving the PSNI, HM Customs and Excise, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland (DVLNI) and Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency.
	Specific measures to tackle MOT evasion include the introduction of an MOT disc for display at present voluntarily, but which will be made mandatory in 2004–05, on vehicle windscreens, and the intention to issue MOT reminders starting in March 2004.
	The detection of those driving without a valid driving licence is a matter for the PSNI and tackled through their on-going programme of enforcement against traffic offences. Reminders are issued by DVLNI to all driving licence holders prior to the expiry of their licence.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants, broken down by grade, there are in the Department and the agencies for which the Department is responsible; and what the figures were in January 1997.

Ian Pearson: The following tables list the number of Northern Ireland civil service staff at 1 January 1997 and 1 September 2003:
	
		NICS staff by department and grade at January 19971
		
			  Grade 5and above Senior Principal/ Principal Officer Deputy Principal StaffOfficer Executive Officer I/ Executive Officer II 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Department of Health and Social Security 45 156 194 353 2,121 
			 Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland 24 273 385 299 989 
			 Department of Education for Northern Ireland 18 80 38 62 157 
			 Department of Environment 43 251 505 793 2,085 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 43 128 174 218 304 
			 Department of Economic Development 37 137 210 315 897 
			 Northern Ireland Office(35) 46 116 134 154 373 
			 Total 256 1,141 1,640 2,194 6,926 
		
	
	
		
			  Administrative Officer Administrative Assistant Industrialgrades Total 
		
		
			 Department of Health and Social Security 3,125 1,059 2 7,055 
			 Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland 368 390 729 3,457 
			 Department of Education for Northern Ireland 167 61 2 585 
			 Department of Environment 1,338 653 2192 7,860 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 408 159 1 1,435 
			 Department of Economic Development 558 276 61 2,491 
			 Northern Ireland Office(35) 356 257 8 1,444 
			 Total 6,320 2,855 2,995 24,327 
		
	
	(35) Includes 187 home civil servants working in the NIO. Figures also include NICS staff working in the Nl Prison Service.
	Figures include both permanent and casual NICS staff (industrial and non-industrial). Staff on career break are excluded.
	
		NI Prison Service staff (non-NICS) by grade at January 1997 
		
			  
		
		
			  
			 Governor 67 
			 Principal officer 167 
			 Senior officer 244 
			 Officer 2,404 
			 Auxiliary 68 
			 Night patrol officer 3 
			 Prison civilian 41 
			 Total 2,994 
		
	
	
		NICS staff by department and grade at September 2003(36)
		
			  Grade 5and above Senior Principal/ Principal Officer Deputy Principal Staff Officer Executive Officer I/ Executive Officer II 
		
		
			 Department of Agriculture & Rural Development 23 290 504 337 1,205 
			 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure 7 27 45 58 189 
			 Department of Education 13 84 56 59 159 
			 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment 12 52 102 97 205 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 38 194 374 436 668 
			 Department of Employment and Learning 10 39 102 163 675 
			 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety 35 119 154 166 242 
			 Department of Environment 17 99 222 326 731 
			 Department of Regional Development 20 136 321 492 1,306 
			 Department of Social Development 18 74 180 353 2,681 
			 Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister 28 49 74 53 62 
			 Northern Ireland Office(36) 52 176 193 245 465 
			 Total 273 1,339 2,327 2785 8,588 
		
	
	
		
			  Administrative Officer Administrative Assistant Industrialgrades Total 
		
		
			 Department of Agriculture & Rural Development 476 524 661 4,020 
			 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure 69 58 16 469 
			 Department of Education 173 87 1 632 
			 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment 163 95 2 728 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel 821 377 31 2,939 
			 Department of Employment and Learning 553 173 1 1,716 
			 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety 165 145 0 1,026 
			 Department of Environment 533 319 137 2,384 
			 Department of Regional Development 603 281 1,771 4,930 
			 Department of Social Development 3,730 1,481 0 8,517 
			 Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister 96 34 0 396 
			 Northern Ireland Office(36) 391 275 6 1,803 
			 Total 7,773 3,849 2,626 29,560 
		
	
	(36) Includes 226 Home Civil servants working in the NIO. Figures also include NICS staff working in the NI Prison Service. (industrial and non-industrial). staff on career break are excluded.
	Figures include both permanent and casual NICS staff
	
		NI Prison Service staff (non-NICS) by grade at September 2003
		
			  
		
		
			  
			 Governor 39 
			 Principal officer 66 
			 Senior officer 178 
			 Officer 1,332 
			 Auxiliary 1 
			 Night patrol officer 6 
			 Prison civilian 72 
			 Total 1,694

Civil Service

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to decrease sick leave in the Northern Ireland civil service; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The 11 departments of the Northern Ireland administration have in place a comprehensive range of initiatives aimed at reducing the level of sickness absence, and further work is planned. These are broadly similar in the Northern Ireland Office. The actions being taken include: the collection of robust statistical information on the extent and causes of absences to inform actions by departments and enable the setting of departmental-specific targets; on-going reviews of policies and procedures to both strengthen the arrangements for ensuring prompt action by management and to assist staff in rehabilitation and return to work; comprehensive guidance for managers and GPs, communicated though a variety of media; mandatory training for line-managers; a strengthened occupational health support; and promotion of health improvement through a number of initiatives.

Coroners (Foyle)

John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full-time equivalent coroners practise in the Foyle constituency; what the average coroner to population ratio is in (a) Foyle and (b) Northern Ireland; and what plans he has to increase the number of coroners available in the Foyle constituency.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs is responsible for the Coroners Service in Northern Ireland. The Foyle constituency is located within the coroner's district of Londonderry, which comprises the local government districts of Derry, Limavady and Strabane. A part-time coroner and a part- time deputy coroner are currently appointed to this district. Coroners' caseload is based on deaths reported and not on population. In 2002 there were 206 deaths reported in the coroner's district of Londonderry. The average number of deaths reported in the six coroners' districts excluding Greater Belfast was 189. Each of these districts has one part-time and one deputy part-time coroner appointed. The Northern Ireland Court Service will shortly be publishing proposals for improvements to the coroners' service in Northern Ireland, including creating a single, national coroner's jurisdiction in Northern Ireland.

Doctors

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the implications of experienced senior house officers from Northern Ireland who complete their general practitioner registrar training in the United Kingdom outside Northern Ireland remaining in practices in England, Scotland or Wales.

Angela Smith: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has carried out a review of the medical workforce, which confirms that there is no shortage of general practitioners in Northern Ireland and that the number in training is sufficient to meet current demand. In determining the requirement for general practitioners, allowance is made for the movement of doctors into and out of the service locally.
	The position will be kept under review through the Department's workforce planning process.

Employers' Liability Insurance

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to tackle the problem of small and medium-sized businesses which are unable to obtain renewal of employers' liability insurance in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) takes the lead on insurance, as it is a reserved matter. DWP recently published an agenda for action in its second stage report on employers' liability insurance. This includes actions such as longer renewal periods by insurers and brokers, and a scheme called 'Making the Market Work' to help trade associations and others access the insurance market more easily.
	These actions are being taken forward in parallel in Northern Ireland. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) is already pursuing a range of initiatives aimed at improving the insurability of small and medium sized businesses and strengthening the insurance market in Northern Ireland.
	In addition, DETI officials are meeting with the British Insurance Association to explore other possible actions which the industry might take. It is also planned to have discussions with the FSB to identify what further actions their members might take to improve their prospects of securing employers' liability insurance at competitive rates.

Estate Wardens

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many estate wardens have been appointed by the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland to date; and for which areas.

John Spellar: There are 21 staff in post, including one agency worker and there are two vacant posts distributed as follows:
	
		
			 Area Number 
		
		
			 Antrim 1 
			 Armagh (37)2 
			 Banbridge 1 
			 Ballymena 3 
			 Carrickfergus 1 
			 Coleraine 1 
			 Dungannon 2 
			 Enniskillen (Fermanagh District Office) 1 
			 Larne 1 
			 Lurgan/Brownlow (37)1 
			 Newry 1 
			 Newtownabbey Office 1 and 2 4 
			 Portadown 2 
		
	
	(37) Plus one vacancy

Film Making

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) financial and (b) other assistance has been provided towards film making in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The information is as follows:
	(a) In the years in question the following financial assistance was provided towards film making in Northern Ireland.
	
		£
		
			  DCAL DETI 
		
		
			 1998–99 965,850 412,384 
			 1999–2000 1,006,335 571,106 
			 2000–01 816,081 491,855 
			 2001–02 739,911 363,000 
			 2002–03 1,097,324 300,000 
			 2003–04 1,038,459 — 
			 TOTAL 5,663,960 2,138,345 
		
	
	(b) In terms of other assistance, the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission, which comes under the remit of DCAL, promotes awareness of Northern Ireland locations, crews and facilities to producers nationally and internationally, and promotes films produced in Northern Ireland. It also supports the development and production of films in Northern Ireland and encourages private sector investment in the industry. The Commission provides free advice to film-makers on all aspects of the business, including locations, casting, crews, facilities, safety, finance and trainees.
	No other non-financial assistance has been provided to the industry from DETI or Invest NI.

Fly-tipping

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what studies have been conducted into the extent of fly-tipping in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Environmental Campaigns Limited (ENCAMS) produced a Fly-Tipping Study in 2003 to establish the extent of fly-tipping in the UK during 200–02. This study gave details of trends from 1994 to 2002 including Northern Ireland. ENCAMS (an environmental charity, which runs the "Keep Britain Tidy" campaign and has a regional office in Belfast) has also produced a guide for the public entitled "Fly-Tipping and the Law". Both publications are available on their website www.encams.org/publications and I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library.
	The Environment and Heritage Service of the Department of the Environment and District Councils are working together to design a code of practice for dealing with the issue of fly-tipping.

Government Solicitors

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether solicitors have been retained to draft legislation in respect of water charging.

John Spellar: No. Assembly Bills introduced by the Northern Ireland Executive during devolution and Orders in Council made under the Northern Ireland Act 2000 while the Assembly is suspended are drafted by the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
	However, the Department for Regional Development has appointed legal advisers to provide specialist expertise on the water industry regulatory, consumer protection and environmental issues to be addressed in the legislation which will be necessary to give effect to the wide-ranging Water Reform agenda.

Government Solicitors

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money was paid to solicitors employed by the Government in the drafting of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 in (a) 1999–2000, (b) 2000–01, (c) 2001–02 and (d) 2002–03, broken down by firm.

John Spellar: The Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 was drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Costs were therefore met within existing Government resources. No payment was made to any private firm of solicitors.

Higher Education

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of school leavers in Northern Ireland went on into higher education in each year since 1997; what steps he is taking to increase these figures; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Information for the 2002–03 school year is not yet available. The percentages of school leavers entering institutions of higher education are as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1997–98 28.6 
			 1998–99 30.0 
			 1999–2000 30.5 
			 2000–01 32.9 
			 2001–02 35.0 
		
	
	I have no policy to increase, overall, the number of school leavers progressing into higher education. I am, however, keen to increase the number of students progressing from those groups that are currently underrepresented in HE. In particular students from disadvantaged backgrounds and students with learning difficulties and disabilities.
	Widening participation in HE by students from these groups is one of the Department for Employment and Learning's key strategic goals. The Department is addressing the issue of widening access to higher education through a number of broad policy directions and through a range of specific actions.
	These include an increase in domestic HE provision between 1999–2000 and 2004–05; the introduction of Foundation Degrees; the introduction of a package of student support measures to assist students from low income families; widening participation premia for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and students with learning difficulties and disabilities and special initiative funding to develop partnerships between the universities and schools with traditionally low levels of participation in HE.

Higher Education

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of school leavers in each of the past five years went on to attend a university in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The information is not available in the requested format.
	(a) –(c) The percentages of school leavers who went on to attend institutions of higher education in Great Britain are as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1997–98 9.3 
			 1998–99 8.6 
			 1999–2000 7.7 
			 2000–01 8.5 
			 2001–02 9.0 
		
	
	(d) The percentages of school leavers who went on to attend institutions of higher education in Northern Ireland are as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1997–98 18.4 
			 1998–99 20.6 
			 1999–2000 22.0 
			 2000–01 23.5 
			 2001–02 25.0 
		
	
	The following table provides information on the number of 18 and 19-year-olds who enter university for a full-time undergraduate course. Not all of these students will have progressed direct from school to university. Some, for example, will have left school at an earlier age and qualified for university entry through further education.
	
		Northern Ireland domiciled first year full-time undergraduate students aged 18 and 19 entering HE institutions in the UK by country of study 1997–98 to 2001–02
		
			  Percentage Total number of students 
		
		
			 2001–02   
			 Northern Irish Institution 73  
			 English Institution 15  
			 Scottish Institution 12  
			 Welsh Institution 1  
			 Total 100 9,311 
			
			 2000–01   
			 Northern Irish Institution 72  
			 English Institution 16  
			 Scottish Institution 12  
			 Welsh Institution 1  
			 Total 100 8,933 
			
			 1999–2000  
			 Northern Irish Institution 69  
			 English Institution 17  
			 Scottish Institution 14  
			 Welsh Institution 1  
			 Total 100 8,643 
			
			 1998–99   
			 Northern Irish Institution 65  
			 English Institution 18  
			 Scottish Institution 16  
			 Welsh Institution 1  
			 Total 100 8,577 
			
			 1997–98   
			 Northern Irish Institution 64  
			 English Institution 19  
			 Scottish Institution 16  
			 Welsh Institution 1  
			 Total 100 8,592 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Source of data—Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
	2. The latest year of information on enrolments is 2001–02
	3. Entrants to HE are based on students on their first year of a course
	4. Age as at 31 August
	5. Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding
	6. Information from HESA does not enable the identification of school leavers. For example, some of these students may have progressed to HE via the FE route.

Waiting Lists/Times

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been waiting for (a) inpatient admission and (b) initial outpatient assessment for orthopaedic surgery for more than (i) one year, (ii) two years and (iii) three years.

Angela Smith: Waiting list statistics are submitted to the Department at specialty level. The information in this answer relates to people waiting in the trauma and orthopaedics specialty at 30 September 2003 (the most recent information available). Waiting list statistics are collected in three-month time bands for all patients waiting up to 24 months. Patients waiting 24 months or more are grouped together within one category therefore patients waiting three years or more cannot be separately identified.
	
		
			  One year Two years Three years 
		
		
			 Number awaiting inpatient admission 1,725 604 n/a 
			 Number awaiting initial outpatient assessment 6,998 3,352 n/a 
		
	
	Source
	CH1 and CH3

Industrial De-rating

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what research the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment based its assessment that industrial de-rating will not result in widespread job losses.

Ian Pearson: Evidence to assist our thinking on the way forward on this issue came from a variety of different sources: for example, studies conducted by DTZ Pieda, Invest NI and CBI as well as submissions made during the public consultation exercise in 2002 by the DETI and DFP Assembly Committees and local economists. The policy paper published in April last year also included a Regulatory Impact Assessment. All this evidence was analysed and considered objectively and the various options were discussed openly with representatives of the business community before a final decision was taken.

Invest Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many businesses based (a) in Northern Ireland, (b) in the rest of the United Kingdom and (c) outside the United Kingdom have received assistance from Invest Northern Ireland in each year since its formation.

Ian Pearson: Information on Invest NI offers of Selective Financial Assistance (SFA) to businesses is as follows:
	
		
			 Location Number of businesses 
		
		
			 Northern Ireland 1,284 
			 Rest of the United Kingdom 10 
			 Outside the United Kingdom 22 
			 Total 1,316 
		
	
	Information on businesses assisted by Invest NI through programmes other than SFA is not available for the above locations.

Late Flights

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many flights at Northern Ireland's airports were delayed (a) arriving from and (b) departing for London in the last month for which figures are available as a result of air traffic control restrictions in London.

Tony McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
	For December 2003, of the 3,346 arrivals at Belfast City, Belfast International and Londonderry/Eglinton airports, 139 flights were delayed by air traffic control regulations imposed within the London Flight Information Region (FIR). Of the 3,348 departures from those airports, the corresponding figure was 145 flights.

Maternity Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the cost incurred as a result of women from outside Northern Ireland giving birth in local hospitals in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: Using an estimate based on average expenditure, the cost to the HPSS of such births was £211,445, excluding private patients, for the financial year 2002–03.

National Stadium

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with (a) sports bodies, (b) local councils and (c) local representatives on the creation of a national stadium in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The issue of a National Stadium has involved discussions with sports bodies and other relevant interests for some time. You may be aware that I have recently invited the Strategic Investment Board to commission a study to establish if a National Stadium in Northern Ireland is a viable option. It will be part of the brief for the consultants appointed for this work to have discussions with sports bodies and other appropriate interest groups.

Paramilitary Activities

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the financial cost of paramilitary beatings which resulted in long-term NHS treatment of victims in 2003.

Angela Smith: This information is not available.

Peace II Programme

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much of the funds from the Peace II programme were distributed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in each of the last six months; and how much of these funds was distributed to (a) Greenmount Agricultural College and (b) Enniskillen Agricultural College.

Ian Pearson: The Greenmount and Enniskillen Campuses are now part of the single DARD College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).
	The following table details expenditure under PEACE II measures for which the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible and identifies how much of this expenditure was distributed to CAFRE.
	
		
			  Expenditure under DARD PEACE II Measures CAFRE Expenditure 
		
		
			 July 2003 51,429  
			 August 2003 831,856  
			 September 2003 7,689  
			 October 2003 947,301  
			 November 2003 9,299,114 8,652,472 
			 December 2003 364,878

Pension Inquiry Line

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average time taken to respond to telephone inquiries made to the Social Security Agency Northern Ireland's pension service inquiry line was in each of the last 12 months.

John Spellar: Unfortunately, information on the time taken to clear telephone inquiries is not available.

Post-primary Education

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost of setting up and implementing the proposed new Northern Ireland post-primary education system.

Jane Kennedy: Until specific proposals for new arrangements begin to emerge at local level, it will not be possible to make reliable estimates of costs. I will be looking at the available options and discussing with my ministerial colleagues ways to ensure the necessary resources to enable the new arrangements to be implemented, taking account of the opportunities offered by the Strategic Investment Programme.

Post-primary Education

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of how the proposed new post-primary education system will affect funding for (a) schools and (b) Further Education colleges.

Jane Kennedy: The arrangements for funding schools and Further Education colleges will require further consideration in light of the new arrangements. The Government's decisions announced on 26 January provide the context for further work on this issue to be carried out, in consultation with our education partners.

Post-primary Education

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when research will be completed on (a) the post-primary pupil profiles and (b) new admissions criteria for the proposed new post-primary education system; and whether the research process will be open to full public consultation.

Jane Kennedy: CCEA is developing and piloting the pupil profile which will apply to both primary and post primary schools. The aim is to have it in place as soon as possible in order to improve the information available to parents.
	Research on new admissions criteria, which will produce a list of potential criteria for consideration, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. There will be full consultation on this proposed list.

Post-primary Education

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of how the implementation of the proposed new post-primary education system will affect staff employment levels in (a) post-primary schools and (b) further education colleges.

Jane Kennedy: Until specific proposals emerge at a local level it will not be possible to determine the affect on staff employment levels in post-primary schools or in further education colleges. Proposals for new post-primary arrangements will be developed at local level by schools and further education colleges working together to ensure that all pupils have access to the "Entitlement Framework".

Potato Ring Rot

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the costs are of equipment purchased to deal with potato ring rot in the last 12 months.

Ian Pearson: I am aware that the recent finding of potato ring rot in Wales posed a significant threat to the potato industry, though no infected stocks of seed or ware potatoes have been identified in Northern Ireland.
	Stringent preventative measures to minimise the risk of further spread are already in place. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has however increased its existing preventative actions, including:
	Checking and sampling of crops produced from GB seed potatoes in 2003;
	Further targeted sampling of GB seed potatoes due to be planted in Northern Ireland in 2004;
	Increased monitoring by inspectors at the ports of Belfast, Larne and Warrenpoint of all seed and ware potato imports;
	Increased inspections at premises of importers and processors, including inspections of stocks and checks on sources and reliability; and
	Meetings with stakeholder representatives and key industry individuals to provide scientific information on the disease and advice on new preventative measures.
	The majority of costs associated with these additional measures are DARD staffs' time.
	There is little need for equipment to deal with potato ring rot. DARD Science Service secured £6,500 in 2003 from budget to specifically address its laboratory diagnostic capacity following enhanced sampling by the Inspection Service and to accommodate any necessary emergency response to potato ring rot. This has enabled the provision of enhanced diagnostic capability within DARD for both classical and EU prescribed molecular diagnostic protocols in anticipation of an increased sampling regime for potatoes.

Prescription Fraud

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what he estimates the cost was of prescription fraud in Northern Ireland in 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: It is estimated that the cost of prescription fraud in 2002–03 was £8.3 million. Estimates for 2003–04 will be available by the end of May 2004.
	Tackling fraud remains a key priority for the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, which has introduced a range of measures to combat exemption fraud. These include setting up a dedicated Counter Fraud Unit, the introduction of fixed penalty charges for patients who misclaim and the creation of the specific criminal offence of evading health services charges.

Rating

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to bring forward proposals in relation to rates in the domestic sector.

Ian Pearson: I have already announced that I propose to replace the current rental based domestic rating with a system based on market values and I plan to bring forward detailed proposals on the reform of the domestic rating system before Easter this year.

Rating

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact of the level of domestic rates in the next financial year in Northern Ireland of the phasing out of industrial de-rating.

Ian Pearson: The phasing out of industrial de-rating is scheduled to commence in April 2005 so there is no impact on the level of domestic rates in the next (2004–05) financial year.

Schizophrenia

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the financial cost of schizophrenia in Northern Ireland in the last five years.

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.

South Eastern Education and Library Board

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken by the South Eastern Education and Library Board to complete the asbestos survey of its estate; when he expects the survey to be completed; and when its findings will be published.

Jane Kennedy: I understand from the Chief Executive of the South Eastern Education and Library Board that 62 per cent. of asbestos surveys have been completed to date, 18 per cent. of surveys are currently on-going and all surveys will be completed by May 2004. Information on the survey results for individual schools will be available on a phased basis from February 2004 onwards on request to the Chief Executive SEELB.

Timber

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by what means the policy for purchasing timber and timber products of (a) the Northern Ireland Office, (b) the Compensation Agency, (c) the Forensic Science Northern Ireland and (d) the Northern Ireland Prison Service ensures that they are obtained from legal and sustainable sources.

Paul Murphy: Timber purchased by the Northern Ireland Office and its agencies is obtained via contracts established by the Central Procurement Directorate.
	The directorate uses the National Building Specification (issued by NBS Services) as its standard technical specification for major construction projects and this has an optional timber procurement clause which is in line with central government policy. The directorate is in the process of adopting this clause for major works and will be introducing similar requirements for other specifications.
	Recent contracts for the purchase of wooden furniture have complied with the current Green Housekeeping guidance.